152. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

March 20, 2014

I'm a huge fan of Wes Anderson movies, but I hate Wes Anderson fans. I don't know if that makes me a hypocrite or what, but I at least know I didn't enjoy seeing this movie on opening night (2 weeks after the more privileged theaters got to see it first). Don't get me wrong, I actually really enjoyed The Grand Budapest Hotel, I just couldn't stand the awful people sitting around me. Every single time anything happened (or didn't happen) during the film, smug laughter oozed throughout the theater. To know if you have what it takes to be a Wes Anderson fan on opening night, try making these sounds from the back of your throat: Hmmph..mmhmmmph......huhhh....mph... (repeat several times over the next few minutes - if you feel a surge of superiority and suddenly think you 'get' things that other people just don't, you're ready).
There are more important things to discuss, however. For starters, if you haven't seen the trailer for this movie, please avoid it. If you have already seen the trailer, do your best to try to forget it. The trailer is entirely misleading, in that it seems to tell a completely different story than the actual movie tells. You should also know that this is unquestionably Anderson's darkest film to date, with murders and war and a fair amount of blood. It does come with many of Anderson's trademark quirks, but was notably devoid of some of his most salient characteristics. For instance, the main characters were not Americans, and the film primarily only focused on two characters. Most importantly, it didn't have a slow-motion ending, which is what I love about several of his other movies.There were others that seemed significant at the time, but I should probably start writing about what the film was actually about. The film began with an older man named Zero (F. Murray Abraham) telling his life story to Jude Law. He told him about how when he was younger he was a hotel lobby boy at the Grand Budapest Hotel, under the supervision of Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes), an extremely well-respected concierge. Zero became Gustave's protege, learning everything he could from him. When one of the hotel's more cherished guests passed away, Gustave and Zero traveled a long way to attend the memorial, only to find that she had bequeathed to Gustave a priceless painting known as 'Boy With Apple' that her son (Adrien Brody) and his wicked, murderous henchman (Willem Dafoe) would stop at nothing to get back. It was discovered that the woman had been murdered, and the police (led by Edward Norton) were quick to arrest Gustave and send him to prison for killing her. After a daring prison escape, Gustave and Zero set out to clear Gustave's name and stop Brody and Dafoe from stealing the painting back and killing any more innocent people. Although the Grand Budapest Hotel is obviously not a film for everyone (which is probably why it was initially given a limited release), I absolutely recommend it, but if you catch yourself laughing smugly at nothing, don't say I didn't warn you.