Wes Anderson seems to be one of those Directors to look forward to as he has gained a reputation for his quirky eccentricity and stylish flair over the years. In his new film, 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' he tightly weaves together a crime caper that is sharp, witty and slick, but sadly lacks interesting characters.
I won't go too far in explaining the plot because a lot happens in the 1 hour and 40 minute running time. The narrative is rather complex as it is handed down from Tom Wilkinson who plays the author who hands the story to his younger self played by Jude Law, who then speaks to Mr Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham) who then tells Jude Law his times of when he got a job as a Lobby Boy at the Grand Budapest Hotel, working for the eccentric perfectionist M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes). We then move from the run down Hotel of that time to the 1930′s when the hotel was booming. We see the hotel in a wedding cake style aesthetic, where anyone who is anyone in the aristocratic world comes to stay, and alt of the time, sleep with Gustave. This includes elderly aristocrat Madame D (An unrecognisable Tilda Swinton). When Madame D dies, she leaves Gustave a priceless painting 'Boy with Apple', to the disgust of Madame D's greedy family, especially her conniving son Dimitri (Adrien Brody). This starts off a chain events which involve lawyers and hit men, an elaborate prison break, a secret society, a woman who hides things in her detailed cakes, and unspecified war and much more.
The film looks amazing. It adopts the aesthetic which has become the signature of Wes Anderson films. The perfect framing, the elaborate set design, the costumes matching the sets and all the quirkiness and eccentric deadpan humour to boot. Ralph Fiennes proves to be a fantastic comic lead. His sense of timing and delivery is perfect. Also, his character is very interesting as he initially comes across as a self serving eccentric, but as the film goes on, you realise he has a lot of good in him. Unfortunately, I felt he was the only interesting character in it. Many of the touted cameos which include Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Lea Seydoux, Harvey Keitel, Jeff Goldblum and Willem Dafoe play a small part in the plot, but a lot of them are underused. The talented Saoirse Ronan I felt was particularly underused. The intricate and complicated plot felt tiresome towards the end as so much takes place and the dialogue is so quick and sharp, that if you miss a line, you will miss a big part of the plot. It started to feel too cluttered as there were too many people in it and too much happening. It is still consistently funny and dazzling, but lacked emotional involvement that it felt slightly empty. I think personally, I still pine for Wes Anderson's more melancholic tones of 'The Royal Tenembaums' and 'Rushmore'. In those films, I cared more for the characters and enjoyed the visual and quirky style. I feel his films are drifting towards a more silly and farcical tone, which is fine, but in my opinion I don't feel it is for the better.
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