By Noah Gittell
In the first reel, we see him walking down a long hallway off the lobby of the film’s titular hotel, accomplishing many tasks in short succession: He signs off on a dining room item, checks in on a regular guest, and writes notes to be handed off to his flunkies. The shot will be familiar to cinephiles; it is clearly intended as an homage to Francois Truffaut’s famous “What is a director” sequence from “Day for Night,” but it also calls to mind an American Express commercial Anderson made that served as an homage to Truffaut.
It’s all very self-referential, and to be fair, Anderson acknowledges the artifice. Like a few of his earlier works, “Budapest” is framed as a story within a story. The film opens on a young girl with a book with the same name as the movie, at which point we meet the book’s author (Tom Wilkinson), who informs us that he is about to tell a story. Next thing we know, we are inside his book, traveling with a younger version of himself (Jude Law) at the hotel, where he hears the hotel’s origin story from its owner (an effectively warm F. Murray Abraham).
After navigating the film’s “Russian doll” structure, we finally get to the story at hand. Gustave thoroughly enjoys his life at the hotel, but he is forced to go on the run when one of his guests – a rich old lady who enjoyed a, let’s say, passionate relationship with Gustave – dies and leaves a priceless painting to him, much to the dismay of her greedy son (Adrien Brody). The police are convinced that Gustave was responsible for his death, so he leaves the warm embrace of his hotel for the the cold winter of the film’s fictional Eastern European nation, which is in the throes of a fictional war.
Ralph Fiennes is the exception. His Gustave is unabashedly emotional, as well as heroic and dashing, and Fiennes manages to break through Anderson’s tight grip to create a unique and memorable character. If only the rest of the film were as compelling as its protagonist. We may enjoy watching the wacky plot transpire, and we will certainly be impressed with how diligently Anderson pulls the strings, but despite its explosions, murders, jail breaks, and gun fights, nothing in “The Grand Budapest Hotel” seems to matter very much, which makes it hardly worth seeing at all.
My Rating: Skip it Altogether
The artificial turf and drainage installation will transform an 82,000-square-foot athletic field on 6.75 acres…
The Rye Record is looking for a talented advertising sales director.
Bess June was unambiguous in communicating her unconditional love to her husband, their children and…
The new owner of G. Griffin Wine & Spirits plans to continue the business as…
County Executive George Latimer maintains a substantial fundraising lead over his Democratic primary opponent --…
If you live in the Rye City School District, you may find just what you…