The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014, R)

Wes Anderson is a bit of an unusual filmmaker to me.  I’ve enjoyed all the films of his I’ve seen, and I appreciate the originality and technical artistry, but I find them a little hard to connect to emotionally.  While I always like them, I never love them; they don’t really stay with me afterword.  So, I don’t love The Grand Budapest Hotel, but it’s a very well-made movie, and I honestly liked it a lot.

This film comes to us through the eyes of Zero, the new lobby boy at the Grand Budapest Hotel.  Under the eccentric but detailed tutelage of concierge M. Gustave, Zero navigates the hospitality business of pre-war Europe, but of course, it’s not going to be that simple.  When Gustave is remember in the will of a wealthy regular who’s died, he gets embroiled in an ugly conspiracy, and Zero is behind his mentor every step of the way.  There are fastidiously hand-decorated cakes, clandestine meetings in confessionals, and creepy enforcers played by Willem Dafoe – all good things in my book.

As can be expected with Wes Anderson, the art direction is impeccable.  The mise-en-scène is peppered with delightful touches throughout, every color feels deliberate, and a prison break has hardly ever been so whimsically staged.  Much of the direction and action has a stylized intentionality about it, with very consciously-synchronized head tilts and line delivery that’s often purposefully flat but somehow doesn’t feel less genuine.  Though the plot itself is a little busy (we jump through several layers of stories within stories before we get to the main narrative,) it holds together fairly well, and the extremely likable duo of Gustave and Zero help to hold our interest even when things get muddled.

The cast is fit to bursting with acting pedigree.  Ralph Fiennes plays Gustave with gently absurd panache, Tilda Swinton is almost unrecognizable as the rich dead aristo, and Adrien Brody and Willem Dafoe work well together as a pair of baddies.  The film also employs, with varying degrees of screentime, Jeff Goldblum, Edward Norton, Mathieu Amalric (who I’ve not seen since he played Jean-Dominique in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,) Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Bob Balaban, Saorise Ronan (young Briony in Atonement,) Tom Wilkinson, Jude Law, Harvel Keitel, and Jason Schwartzman.  Phew!  I’m not familiar with Tony Revolori, who plays Zero, but he’s excellent – sharp, sweet, and unflappable.

Five best picture nominees in, and I still haven’t found a clear standout.  Selma is, for my money, probably the best I’ve seen so far, but since it has so few total nominations, I don’t think it’s likely to win.  There’s no obvious frontrunner for me, and I don’t really have a sentimental favorite that I love best even though it’ll never take home the trophy (as often happens with me.)    I don’t know – there’s been a lot that’s good, and even very good, but so far, nothing exceptional.

Warnings

Swearing, some sexual content, and violence (including some cartoonish graphic bits.)