The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Grand Budapest Hotel - review by Camilo Arenivar

The Skinny:

Quirky and odd paced at times, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is a caper movie that takes a while to get going, but once it does, you find yourself charmed by the storytelling. Not for those who like formulaic movies, this is a little more indie-centric.

The Fat:

"The Grand Budapest Hotel" is the latest offering from prolific filmmaker Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums). I have never been one who was on board the "Wes Anderson is great" bandwagon, so my review is more as an average moviegoer, not a critic knowledgeable in the writer/director's style.

The movie starts off somewhat slowly, and eventually we realize it is a story that is being told by one man who has been told of the story by another man. It takes place in a non-existent country that appears to be somewhere in Europe and the time seems to be World War II-ish but it never really goes into specific detail about that. The story focuses on Gustave H, a concierge of a high end hotel and the friendship he develops with a "Lobby Boy". It also goes into the various events that happen that lead to the more interesting parts of the film.

Ultimately the movie is a quirky caper which grows on you as it goes along. As I was watching this movie, just under half way through I was kind of still not sure what I thought about it but by the time it ended I realized that I did indeed enjoy it, and I liked the way that the story unfolded.

Stars include Raph Fiennes as Gustave, newcomer Tony Revolori as Zero Moustafa the lobby boy, Saoirse Ronan as Agatha, Zero's love interest, Willem Dafoe as the henchman of a family, and Jude Law as the young writer documenting the story. There are multiple appearances by Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, F. Murray Abraham, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwartzman and others who have apparently appeared in Wes Anderson films of the past.

Overall, the movie is entertaining, mostly based on the quirky characters and the delivery of the story. This still somewhat odd film is not for your regular megaplex moviegoer but more for those who like independent type films, in my opinion.