The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

“The Grand Budapest Hotel” disappointed me. It features a spectacular cast and an eye-widening visual style, but its story failed to engage me and its comedic moments were a mixed-bag. It’s a film that I tried so hard to like but it sadly didn’t connect with me.

As I just mentioned, the cast in “The Grand Budapest Hotel” are beyond star studded. From Ralph Fiennes to Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum to Owen Wilson, Bill Murray and that guy from the Direct Line ads and “National Treasure” (Harvey Keitel); everyone who sees this movie will probably recognise at least one actor. Nobody gives a bad performance; Ralph Fiennes is arguably the best part of the film as Gustave H., he’s likable, charming and delivers the funniest lines in the film (admittedly, all of the humorous scenes revolve around Fiennes speaking in a polite and charismatic fashion before explosively swearing out of nowhere!)

On a visual level, I can’t fault “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” The cinematography is exceptional, every shot oozes rich colours, the camera movements are creative and the sets and costumes are truly extravagant. The way that the film plays with the aspect ratio of different sequences is unique to say the least; the movie looks like an old-fashioned storybook come-to-life, there’s something magical about the presentation of this strange story. So well done Wes Anderson, you made a nice looking film!

Unfortunately, that’s where my compliments for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” end. I think one of the problems with this film is that it’s too quirky. I like its zany visuals and over-the-top performances, but the comedy and plot can become extremely pretentious.

The story does that “narrator talks for an excessively long time” thing that is so intensely grating. THIS ISN’T A BOOK! WE CAN SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING! GET ON WITH IT!!!

The movie repeats several of the jokes over and over and over and over and over again, meaning that they become very tiresome extremely fast! There are two “gags” that go on for what felt like 20 minutes. The first one is about various concierges’ stopping their tasks to have a nice chat on the phone. Is that funny? Well who cares because you’ll have endure 5 versions of the exact same “joke!”

The second sequence of events revolves around Gustave and his lobby boy Zero meeting a bunch of priests/ monks who ask them who they are, then proceed to tell them to go to different locations. THAT’S NOT A JOKE! THAT’S JUST DULL!!!

Aside from the meandering comedy, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” has this mean streak to it that comes out of nowhere. You think you’re watching a fun comedy then BANG a cat is hurled out of a window and splattered on the pavement below. You’re just recovering from that when SNAP someone has their fingers suddenly sliced off. Violence can be a great storytelling tool in films when used appropriately (to inform the audience about a historical event or to create an awesome visceral action sequence) but this was just unpleasant. Also, killing one animal in a film is worse than dispatching a hundred humans in my opinion!

That concludes my review of “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” I can see why lots of people love this movie but this just isn’t my cup of tea. It’s not a bad film, it’s a beautifully crafted tale in which the tale is the weakest element. “The Instantly Forgettable Budapest Hotel” would have been a more apt title!