Thursday, February 5, 2015

Best Picture Review: The Grand Budapest Hotel


Summary via Fandango:

Wes Anderson heads to Europe for the first time with this Indian Paintbrush production starring Saoirse Ronan, Ralph Fiennes, Bill Murray, and Jude Law. Gustav H., the famous concierge at a legendary hotel situated in the Alps during the 1930's becomes the center of a farcical whirlwind of suspicion when one of his institution's oldest and richest patrons turns up dead and suspiciously leaves him her most priceless work of art -- a Renaissance painting of a boy with an apple. Infuriated that she left anything of value to anyone else, the woman's greedy and nefarious heir uses all manner of underhanded and illegal tactics to pin her death on Gustav and to silence anyone who questions his objective of inheriting every penny of her estate leaving Gustav's trusted lobby boy, Zero, to clear Gustav's name and prove that the grand lady's killer is none other than her own son.

My Thoughts:

I didn't love it, but I also didn't hate it.  It was interesting for lack of a better word.  The story...every single part of it...was certainly farcical, but there was something about it that made me want to keep watching to see how it all shook out.  My favorite scene was when Gustav H. and his prison buddies make a break for it...particularly the end of the scene.  Gustav H. is truly a character for the ages.  What a goofy, goofy man!  I also enjoyed that it was told from the perspective of the lobby boy several decades after the wild series of events occurred.  Not a movie I would particularly recommend to someone, but it wasn't a total waste of my time either.

Other Nominations:

Cinematography
Costume Design
Directing (Wes Anderson)
Film Editing
Makeup & Hairstyling
Music (Original Score)
Production Design
Writing (Original Screenplay)

Did you see The Grand Budapest Hotel?  What did you think?

Andrea :)

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