The Grand Budapest Hotel

Unique movie, never been able to find this on streaming for free. I finally broke down and bought it. The movie is not as humorous as the trailers made it look but it's quite usual. There's so many well known actors in it that I wasn't aware of. DVD worked well and arrived quick.

The Grand Budapest Hotel, directed by Wes Anderson is chock full of Hollywood A-listers in both cameo and substantial roles and with Anderson at the helm, the result is a film so quirky and brilliant that you’ll want to see it more than once. The Grand Budapest Hotel is Anderson’s best film to date, a wry, exceptionally well-structured 5-act Shakespearean dramedy. If you liked any of Anderson’s prior movies, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Royal Tenenbaums, or The Darjeeling Limited, to name a few, then The Grand Budapest Hotel will satisfy you in a way that these previous gems just narrowly missed.First there’s the superb M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes), impeccably dressed with such dizzying attention to detail that Coco Chanel would be jealous. Gustave runs the GBH, set amid a coniferous-lined mountainside, always gorgeously blanketed with a light dusting of snow, so breathtakingly beautiful it looks like CGI. Anderson used more than one locale for the filming to get just the right feel for the distinguished and sumptuous backdrop to the movie. At the GBH, Gustave not only runs a tight, elegantly appointed ship, he has a cadre of patrons, all older, almost all female, who return to the GBH to partake of the amenities that only M. Gustave can provide. The young Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori), so called, he says, because after losing his family and home in the war -- the movie is sandwiched between the first and second World Wars -- he is nothing and has no one. Zero is hired by M. Gustave to maintain a specific role at the hotel, the actual description of which is unclear for while Gustave has a list of “don’ts”, it seems the lobby boy’s biggest “do” is to be Gustave’s personal assistant. Throughout the movie, we see Zero’s allegiance to Gustave unfold and grow in a variety of wry and often hilarious ways.The entire story is told in flashback by the enigmatic owner of the hotel, a much older Zero (F. Murray Abraham), to the Young Writer (Jude Law), who is a patron of the current GBH. With it’s halcyon days behind it, a skeleton crew running it, and very few guests, the GBH is still going, maybe not strong, but going. Abraham invites Law to join him for dinner and over many courses, unravels the beguiling history behind the hotel. After one of Gustave’s favored patrons, Madame D. (a sublime Tilda Swinton) is murdered, Gustave travels to Madame D’s side because, “she needs me,” meaning, he needs to make sure 1) she looks good and 2) to find out whether she left him a little something in her will. At the reading, the lawyer, Deputy Kovacs (Jeff Goldblum) announces to the family that Madame D. has left Gustave the priceless painting, “Boy With Apple” which, according to Gustave, they had admired together many times. Chaos ensues as the heirs, led by Madame D’s son, Dmitri (Adrien Brody) along with his henchman, Jopling (Willem Dafoe), try to reclaim what they believe is rightfully the family’s. The film is full of fabulously quirky observations such as when Gustave views the dead body of Madame D, examines her nail polish and expresses approval for the new color because even in death, style and elegance are paramount.My favorite line in the movie is Gustave’s, spoken during a moment when he and the Lobby Boy are trying to puzzle out the mystery behind the dilemma Gustave finds himself in:“The plot thickens, as they say. Why, by the way? Is it a soup metaphor?”I absolutely will not tell you what mess they are in as the film is all to methodical to spoil, but I will say that I frequently laughed out loud throughout the movie. Anderson’s usual themes of abandonment, trouble with authority, and overarching loyalty in the face of adversity are all present. The cast goes on and on: Harvey Keitel, Ed Norton, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, and a host of others makes this film feel like summer camp for A-Listers The Grand Budapest Hotel is not for everyone. My mother thought it was weird, but she’s 80 and subtle, facetious humor is often lost on her. Me, I thought it was brilliant.

Maybe this movie will stop the love him, hate him thing people have with Wes Anderson. Probably not, though, and that is fine with most everyone, save for probably Mr. Anderson, as his wallet suffers for the oversight. Grand Budapest brings most of the old crew from other Anderson classics such as Rushmore, Life Aquatic, and The Darjeeling Express and adds a couple of actors new to the Anderson legacy. The classics are here, Jason Schwartzman as M. Jean, a zoned out hopeless bellman. It is hard to believe the range Schwartzman shows. It is amazing the same actor played Max Fischer in Rushmore. Adrien Brody, is back, so is Willem Defoe, Ed Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum is fabulous in his portrayal of Deputy Kovacs, Ed Norton, Owen Wilson, and Tilda Swinton's Madame D is brilliant.The film could have been outstanding if Anderson stopped here, but instead two amazing additions make the film a five star in my book; Ralph Fiennes and F. Murray Abraham. I can't think of any other actor that could make the character of M. Gustave likable. Gustave is a world class proper hotel concierge and COO for the Grand Budapest, and its resident scumbag. This is one of the few times the film world has succeeded in creating a lovable scumbag. Then there is F. Murray Abraham. I didn't see his name in any of the promotional material, so imagine the amazement of seeing such an accomplished actor, and the worlds greatest spy Dar Adal come alive as the aged incarnation of the Lobby Boy. Mr. Abraham is a tremendous screen presence in the film and ties the film together seamlessly. And Tony Revolori is amazing as the young Lobby Boy. His facial expressions alone carry several scenes.Someday the love him or hate him thing will go away. I half wonder if he had left his name off the movie would people be more likely to give the film a chance. Then I realized it wouldn't matter, every detail in every scene has Wes Anderson written all over it. I have a read a lot of criticism of Anderson's work. It is lazy, shallow... Wes Anderson Films Rank #10 on the Stuff White People Love list on the internet. I don't like Wes Anderson movies for any other reason than I like Wes Anderson movies. The soundtrack cinematography, and the scripts take me to a different time. Some of the movies back to when I was young, others, like Grand Budapest, to a time I never knew. There is a sense of having traveled through time and space when I sat through this movie that I can't get anywhere else.

My favorite Wes Anderson film, such a amazing film, one of the two films by Wes Anderson that clicked with me alongside Isle Of Dogs. Ralph Fiennes is charmingly funny in this film. Tony Revelori is very good as the protege. It’s a hotel worth revisiting more than once.

This movie is certainly quirky, but so well done.