Fox Searchlight’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” hits theaters this Friday, March 7 and was written and directed by Wes Anderson. The film stars Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Jude Law, Harvey Keitel, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Lea Seydoux, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Owen Wilson, and Tony Revolori.
Whenever a Wes Anderson film comes out, I make sure I am at the front of the line waiting to see what he’s created next. From “Bottle Rocket” to “Moonrise Kingdom,” Wes Anderson is, personally, my favorite director, while being one of the best storytellers in Hollywood. “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” his eighth feature film, builds on Anderson’s already stellar track record. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” could be Anderson’s funniest film to date with his most impressive cast to date. Led by Ralph Fiennes and Tony Revolori, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” never fails to deliver a perfectly timed laugh, but I left feeling like the movie was missing just a little bit of something.
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” opens up in 1985 with The Author (Wilkinson) introducing his story of the time he spent at the hotel during the late 1960s. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is located in the fictional Republic of Zubrowka, a nation that has been ravaged by both war and poverty. The hotel has fallen on hard times and has found itself with very few guests at any one time. The Author (younger version played by Law), encounters the hotel’s owner, Mr. Moustafa (Abraham). The two meet up for dinner together and Mr. Moustafa tells The Author the tale of how he took ownership of the Grand Budapest and why he refuses to close the place down.
Mr. Moustafa’s story begins in 1932, just several years before the big war takes place. None of this is of concern to M. Gustave H. (Fiennes) though, the hotel’s concierge. Gustave is very devoted to his position, and when he’s not busy running the place he’s courting some of the older clients. One of his clients, Madame D. (Swinton), has her final stay at the hotel and Gustave spends the night with her. Around this time, a new lobby boy has been hired to the hotel named Zero (Revolori), who is a younger version of Mr. Moustafa. Gustave takes Zero under his wing and teaches him the ways of the hotel as well as everything he knows.
A few days after Madame D leaves the hotel, Gustave discovers that she has died under mysterious circumstances. He and Zero race over to her wake where he sees Madame one last time. He walks in on the reading of her will read by Deputy Kovacs (Goldblum), who announces that the Madame’s estate has been awarded to her son, Dmitri Desgoffe-und-Taxis (Brody). It comes to everyone’s surprise when the valuable painting ‘Boy With Apple’ has been given to Gustave. Gustave takes the painting with Zero and brings it back to the Grand Budapest, hiding it. As the painting is being packed away, Inspector Henckels (Norton) arrests Gustave for the murder of Madame D. From here on out, Zero and Gustave aim to prove Gustave’s innocence and try to discover who really killed Madame D.
What works for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is the comedic work of Ralph Fiennes, who has never been given an opportunity quite like this before. Gustave is a character unlike any created by Wes Anderson, one you never know for sure quite what he’s thinking or who he’s interested in. The ambiguity of the character is wonderful and could be one of Anderson’s best creations. Following Fiennes lead, is a magnificent supporting cast, especially Brody and Dafoe. Anderson is able to bring together so many different actors and actresses and seeing them work together is truly a work of art. Anderson’s script could be the funniest he’s created yet and it’s just something completely new from this wonderful mind.
As fun and hilarious as “The Grand Budapest Hotel” was, I couldn’t help but feel like the movie was missing something. There’s no denying that Anderson can bring you to the wonderfully magically places he comes up with. But while doing so he’s usually able to bring a layer of sadness and nostalgia to his films as well. While the nostalgia was there through the re-telling of Zero’s journey with Gustave, I found myself not feeling much else. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is an extremely comical film that is able to keep Anderson’s touch but maybe I was just hoping to feel something a little bit more. This isn’t to take anything away from the movie, since it was remarkable, but “The Grand Budapest Hotel” just didn’t have the feel of a movie like “Rushmore” or “The Royal Tenenbaums.”
Although it’s still really early to say something like this, Wes Anderson could find himself with a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination come next January. There is so much about “The Grand Budapest Hotel” that was done right and it’s easily the best films of the year so far. Will it still be one of the best come May? September? December? For me, definitely. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” makes up for its flaws with Anderson’s wonderful story that’s so full of color and life where you just can’t take your eyes off the screen. For all of the Wes Anderson fans out there, they will fall in love with what he’s come up with now.
For those unfamiliar, they’ll still fall in love. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is a one-of-a-kind experience that I recommend for everyone.
Credit: Joshua Kaye
