The Grand Budapest Hotel 2014

I’m not a big fan of Wes Anderson, my interest in his films fell off after “Rushmore” but something about this film caught my imagination so I plopped down my $10.00 for a matinee today at the Bam Cinemas and I have to say I had a pretty good time. The film begins in somewhat contemporary times with Tom Wilkinson relating a story about his younger self in 1968 (played by Jude Law) and his stay in the once grand but now down and out hotel located in the imaginary country of Zubrowka. Its here that Wilkinson/Law meets up with the old owner of the hotel played by F. Murray Abraham who in turn tells the story of the hotel in the 1930’s when as a young refugee (played by newcomer Tony Revolori), he was the lobby boy and was befriended and mentored by the hotel concierge played by a charming Ralph Fiennes in a daft and frantic performance. A lot happens in its narrow running time of 100 minutes with political intrigues, love conquers all romances, chases across the mountains and escapes from jails, all done in that Droll and visually complex style that Wes Anderson is known for. It’s also an homage of sorts for the way movies use to be made with wonderful miniatures and matte paintings instead of the boring DGI look that is now common in our movies. There are flecks of Hitchcock and Lubitsch and the supporting cast is a wow and includes Tilda Swinton, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Willem DaFoe and Adrian Brody. Not a masterpiece, but still a lot of fun.