Review of The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) by Seth S — 28 Jan 2015

The Grand Budapest Hotel marks my first entry into the wonderful world of Wes Anderson ... or what was supposed to be the wonderful world of Wes Anderson. Sadly, I find myself on the outside looking in.

I've heard all the acclaim, all the stories, all the Wes Anderson-isms. The Grand Budapest Hotel lives up to every word of it. It is as meticulously put together a movie as I have ever seen. The camera work, the staging of the actors, the sets, the costumes, the dialogue, it is all micromanaged down to the letter. And herein lies a problem. Every aspect of filmmaking in this movie is compressed through Anderson's schtick. There is no room for happy accidents. The movie appears to be made by a well-oiled machine, which is acceptable, because the machine is an inventive one. This movie is unlike any other that I have seen, visually speaking. It's a treat. Then it's another treat. Then it's one treat after another for 100 minutes.

Perhaps I wasn't prepared for it, but by the halfway point, I was drowning in Anderson's pervasively saccharine confection. It's so artificial. Not only does the movie not look real (by design), but it in no way feels real - which is infinitely more disappointing.

I didn't mind the fact that the movie exists in Candy Land, with shockingly obvious usage of models, painted backdrops, etc. The movie is, if nothing else, amazing to look at. But the drama associated with the characters falls woefully short. The movie's definition of character development is relegated to one painfully tired "my parents died in the war" scene.

Another thing that continually took me out of the intrigue of the story are the performances. At the time of its release, I saw a handful of articles outlining Anderson's stickler mentality for dialogue. Each line is a direct mirror of the script, delivered as the director deemed fit. Often, actors have to deliver a hefty amount of dialogue in a very short amount of time. This leads to performances that are not as good as they should/could be.

The movie is shot like a dance: actor moves into position, actor recites line, camera moves to reveal another actor, actor number two recites line, etc. This smothering style leads to some disappointing performances. You can see the actors rushing to hit their marks, delivering dialogue at an uncomfortable speed, barely keeping up with the director's explicit vision.

In addition, the movie is stunt casted far past the point of diminishing returns. I counted seventeen actors of great experience and merit in the cast list, two of which actually give performances worth noticing. Ralph Fiennes does everything in his power to bring M. Gustave to the screen. He is not helped by Anderson's extremely narrow direction, but he goes all in on the performance, and it pays off. F. Murray Abraham also brings a welcome level of gravitas to his scenes, though how on God's green earth does Zero grow from being an Indian teenager into a white adult?

The rest of the cast is horribly disappointing. There are at least fifteen actors who are relegated to one-dimensional characters with very little screen time. Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, and Bill Murray are great examples. I legitimately raised an eyebrow at their appearance in the movie. There was absolutely no reason to cast them in these parts. Cast them in substantial roles, by all means. But don't waste these actors talents in pointless cameos.

I can't say that I love much about this movie, but one thing that I have instantly fallen in love with is Alexandre Desplat's musical score. It might just be my second favorite score of the year (behind John Powell's How to Train Your Dragon 2). It's so energetic, unique, and fun!

Alright, so I've basically spent this entire review outlining what I did not like about The Grand Budapest Hotel. But I have to say, the movie is too unique, too stylish, and ultimately, too much fun to be ignored. I saw things I liked in the movie, and I saw things I did not. Anderson makes no attempt to hide any perceived flaws, and I can credit the movie for that. I enjoyed my stay at The Grand Budapest Hotel well enough, but I certainly did not shed a tear as I checked out.

"There are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity." 6.5/10.