Review of The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) by Lancekoz — 18 Aug 2014

Years ago, I was impressed with the quirky, down-home feel of Rushmore, I got a few laughs out of Bottle Rocket... but every other Anderson film just gets worse. Because there are bright colors and wide-angle, symmetric compositions in almost every shot.

.. maybe people think this is great cinema. But the clumsy acting trying to bring superficial scripts alive just gets tiring after a while. This time, we are shown a sometimes serious, elaborate historical drama.

.. but it's just pretext.... it isn't credible. Every shot has an arranged, forced feel that betrays realism... so you find yourself at an emotional distance from all the events that are supposed to make you feel the drama.

There's a constant, snarky absurdity lingering beneath the surface... but that isn't really sufficient as a storyline. More writing, less artistic contrivance.