Movie review: 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'

The Grand Budapest Hotel movie review

'The Grand Budapest Hotel'
U; Comedy
Director: Wes Anderson
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Willem Dafoe, Jude Law, Adrien Brody, Bill Murray, Edward Norton
Rating:

Releasing an English film with a Salman Khan film, that too on Eid, is like dousing oneself in chicken stew and walking barefoot into a lake full of alligators. The bold distributors of 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' have managed to stand up to Bhai's might and offer you this film on Eid. That in itself wins some brownie points, but I'll give you ten more reasons to see this film in theatres.

1) The Grand Budapest Hotel is directed by Wes Anderson, the visionary behind 'The Royal Tenenbaums', 'The Darjeeling Limited', 'The Fantastic Mr Fox' and 'Moonrise Kingdom'. If you had any iota of fun watching these movies, you should have no problem in having a blast watching this one.

2) This film comprises of all the wonderful elements that made Anderson's earlier movies great. The quirky vibe, the eccentric characters, the gorgeous use of colours in the frames. All told in lush painterly brush strokes.

3) The cast of the film is irresistible. There's Ralph Fiennes, F Murray Abraham (from Amadeus), Edward Norton, Mathieu Amalric, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Léa Seydoux, Jason Schwartzman, Jude Law, Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Murray and Owen Wilson. 'Jurassic Park' and 'The Fly' fans would love to know that Jeff Goldblum makes a superb extended cameo in the film.

4) Despite the gigantic cast, all the characters are somehow memorable. The cameos are not just for the sake of star baiting or red herrings, but every single actor has been placed in a well-defined role, no matter how small it is.

5) The huge canvas of likable characters makes for a grand story that is told with the scale of an epic film, yet with the intimacy of a close-knit comedy-drama. It's rather jaw-dropping that Anderson somehow managed to achieve this.

6) The visual effects and art direction of the film are out of this world. There isn't a single scene in the film that you wouldn't want to frame in your room. Anderson's trademark love for symmetry is put on full display here, with pastel colors and eye-popping sets and costumes.

7) The plot vehicle is itself very unique. The film plays out like a Wes Anderson version of Inception, where a story exists within a story that resides within another story.

8) The Russian Doll style presentation never gets in the way of the plot, but actually adds another rich layer of tapestry to the film. A few bits get convoluted but before you raise your arms, Anderson satirises the convoluted nature of the plot.

9) The hotel is one of the most interesting elements in the film. It's a character on its own because it serves as an organic living entity in the film. There's so many interesting things within the walls you'd wish some of them had films of their own.

10) Alexandre Desplat's lovely music will make its way to your iPod playlist in a jiffy.