Review of The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) by Eliza B — 30 Jan 2015
It's got all the classic Anderson pieces, and in that sense it's got 90% more character and artistry than most movies, but a lot of it feels like going through the motions. The visual gags and calling cards are not as tightly connected to character moments as they maybe were in previous Anderson movies, so they feel more superfluous, like they're just there to be cute, to give his fans another hit of trademark quirk.
It's almost not creative anymore; it just feels like self-imitation. If it didn't look like so much work to execute, you could say it was lazy, but if nothing else it's coasting artistically.
GBH almost undermines itself by calling to mind Anderson's better movies and suffering by comparison.
This review of The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) was written by Eliza B on 30 Jan 2015.
The Grand Budapest Hotel has generally received very positive reviews.
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