Grand Hotel Budapest is the new Wes Anderson film with a verifiable whos who of Hollywood in it. By my count, 3 Oscar winners and close to a dozen other nominees, some of which I will mention, The story surrounds the once great hotel, now slowly running in to hard times and ruin. One of the residents, The Author(Judd Law) , runs in to the owner of the hotel who recounts the tale of how he came to own the place. He tells us he started as a lowly Lobby Boy under the instruction of concierge Gustave, played brilliantly by Ralph Finnes who (ahem) takes care of the guests needs, the guests, who come specifically for him are elderly, blonde, wealthy women. When one, Madame D (Tilda Swinton) dies suddenly and leaves a priceless painting to him in her will, Gustave becomes the prime suspect in the strange death. The enraged family including her son (Adrian Brody) demand the hotel mans arrest. The concierge and Zero the lobby boy steal the painting and go on the run. As they attempt their escape, Gustave promises Zero to make him his heir and leave the painting to him for his help in stealing the artefact. The pair are captured and Gustave placed in prison. Whilst inside he befriends a variety of characters and plans his escape. Using Zero on the outside and his new girlfriend a plan is hatched. Whilst on the outside trying to prove his innocence he runs in to more friends of old willing to help, they include monks, bakers, other hotel staff and others not so helpful include a deranged killer played just about the right side of evil by the always reliable Willem Defoe. Coming across soldiers from both sides of an oncoming war, military police and money mad family Gustave and Zero have a lot to deal with. The film heads to the climax and the parts of the puzzle fall in to place but the film has one final ace up its sleeve. Anderson does brilliantly well juggling so many characters and a multi tiered story before bringing it safely home. Finnes has rarely been better as the head of the hotel and shows many layers to the man who could come across as unsympathetic and mean but under the front has a heart and cares for his friends, and especially Zero a great deal. Your initial stay at The Grand Hotel Budapest may only initially be a couple of hours but its somewhere you will want to visit again. Score 8/10
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 20:30:04 +0000
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