Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel is a comedy-murder mystery set in a glorious hotel in 1932, in the fictional Republic of Zubrowka, a European alpine state . Our leads are the hotel's devoted concierge, Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes), and his trusted confidant, Zero (Tony Revolori ), the lobby boy. When Gustave's aging lover, "Madame D," played by an unrecognizeable Tilda Swinton, mysteriously died, that's when the adventure begins—with Gustave finding himself against Madame D's son, the hilarious Dmitri Desgoffe und Taxis (Adrien Brody).
The Grand Budapest Hotel, like many of Anderson's quirky films, is an eye candy; very pretty—from the landscape down to the tiniest details. Visual people will enjoy Anderson's trademark of playful production design.
Anderson treads into Nazi theme here, but lightly and with flair, managing to elicit chuckles. The story is very light and charming, and moderately interesting. However, the strength of this film is its superb production design, costume, and all its grand and pretty little visuals, with the story almost secondary. Those who are not exactly fans of Anderson, like me, might find this lacking and boring, like I did.
At best, The Grand Budapest Hotel, nominated in the 2015 Oscar for Best Picture, is cute and mainly memorable for the pink hotel, the snow-covered mountains, and all its colorful frames. And, yes, Adrian Brody.
2.5 out of 5 stars
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