Review of The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) by Potarto72 — 21 Dec 2014

The first thing I knew about Grand Budapest Hotel after leaving the theater was that some moments shined over others. 60% of the film is interesting enough, but lacks a great driving mechanism or significant motive.

However, chunks of it really stand out, being as funny and charming as any Wes Anderson movie I've seen. A similar trend exists with the film's actors and characters. The new and upcoming Tony Revolori, and the A-List veteran Ralph Fiennes are excellent as the film's head protagonists.

Adrien Brody as Dmitri is hilarious, and Wes Anderson's other signature actors (Bill Murray, Ed Norton, Jason Schwartzman) all make small cameos. The only problem with this film is, some of the characters and situations are severely underutilized.

As you can see above, plenty of major stars have a role, but many of them are either too short or too simple. Situations are sometimes built up and then let off easy. I think Anderson has tried a bit too hard to pack stars and visuals in, that the film's direction has resulted in some shortcomings.

Regardless, they certainly don't detract from the film in any way, and Grand Budapest Hotel still makes for a funny adventure film that bleeds charm and whimsy, in typical Anderson style.