Review of Grand Hotel (2008) by Grant S — 30 Mar 2014
The 1932 Best Picture Oscar winner hasn't aged well. Stuffy, snooty, aloof, with some pretty hammy acting.
Slow moving. The first 80% of the movie felt like Act 1, the set up. Then, when things do start to happen, it is over very quickly, and then onto the conclusion. Pacing is horrendously bad.
The characters were hardly likable. In fact, the only one I cared about was Joan Crawford's character, the stenographer. Maybe because she was the only real, down-to-earth one of all of them. Everyone else just seemed stuck up, scheming or nuts.
The likability of the stenographer is largely due to Joan Crawford's performance. She is fantastic - bubbly, witty and beautiful.
None of the remainder of the cast worked for me. Greta Garbo, John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore all seemed like they were auditioning for a play - very overdone, overacted performances. Admittedly, this was the early days of talking movies, so maybe old, silent movie, habits died hard.
Certainly makes me wonder what all the fuss about Greta Garbo was, at least.
This review of Grand Hotel (2008) was written by Grant S on 30 Mar 2014.
Grand Hotel has generally received mixed reviews.
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