Quirky,charming, oddball and a little bit dark are all ways to describe Wes Anderson new flick The Grand Budapest Hotel. Really it should have be titled the Grand Adventures of Gustave H and his sexy mo. For the most part thats exactly what the movie is, it just didn't live up to the movie my mind created from the trailers.
The story is. Gustave H., a legendary concierge at a famous Grand Budapest hotel is accused of murder of a rich old lady. Who bequeathed him a priceless Renaissance painting . This lead to a battle with the family over her will - all against the back-drop of a dramatically changing continent. While being the story is being recounted by Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend.
All that sounds pretty much like a wonderful misadventure with Gustave H. But its more convoluted than it needs to be, also the focus is much more on Zero the lobby boy. I found Zero to be like a cardboard cutout with a drawn on mustache. Only really because Ralph Fiennes embodies Gustave H with so much lovable charm that every character around him become a one dimensional pieces of driftwood.
The plot is merely a mechanism that allows Anderson to transport his vision onto the screen, a vision of a peculiar world seemingly different from our own, but filled with just as much loss and, at the same time, human compassion as ours. There is comedy, but its either very subtle or incredibly over the top. I would technically describe it as a detective comedy, that's been dipped into nostalgia with a hint of bittersweetness longing for an age long past. Anderson unique film styling helps to bring the world of the Grand Budapest to life. The colours, the camera movement that switches between different parts of the set, the music, the lens angle distortion, absolutely ridiculous CGI is used perfectly to add some surrealism to the movie.
Really I just wanted to spend more time with Gustave H in The Grand Budapest rather then watching him escape a prison or ride several trains. The hotel itself is a character thats never truly explored. Don't think the movie spend really much time at The Grand Budapest. Still it was an enjoyable adventure with the charming concierge Gustave H.
2 and half quick witted comeback waffles out of 5.
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