# Review in Brief: The Grand Budapest Hotel



## MaxBuck (Apr 4, 2013)

OK, saw this movie at the bargain cinema.

Glad we didn't pay full freight to see this at the first-run house. It is intended to be a Comedy of the Absurd. Absurd it is, but aside from one or two hilarious moments, it's not really funny. The presence of a great many famous actors in cameos might be appealing to some moviegoers, but the acting overall is at the level of camp, without real humor. Very disappointing stuff.

The balalaika music at the end was nice, though.


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## Tempest (Aug 16, 2012)

Sounds like a Wes Anderson movie. The visual appeal is there, if you appreciate the color and symmetry of every single frame. Expecting a cohesive script, plausible characters, or actual entertainment is not what this is about. It is stylish quirk and nothing more. Some will claim great emotional artistry and whatnot. These people are pretentious idiots.


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## Hitch (Apr 25, 2012)

I thought it was a gas.


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## zzdocxx (Sep 26, 2011)

I think I have seen just two of his movies.

I liked the Darjeeling Limited.

Royal Tenenbaums -- I found the characters too "pat" -- eg. montage of him bonding with his grandson by bopping around NYC all day -- cliched.


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## zzdocxx (Sep 26, 2011)

> According to film critic John P. MacCarthy of_America, "his movies are fun to look at but lack substance. In designing vivid, self-contained worlds, he* fetishizes material things-clothes,* contraptions and structures-while paying scant attention to plot, character development and ideas."_


Bolding mine .

Sound familiar ?


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## racebannon (Aug 17, 2014)

I love Anderson's films but since Rushmore something has been missing.


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## Odradek (Sep 1, 2011)

As someone said back when "Moonrise Kingdom" was released.... "I see that Wes Anderson movie is out again".

Basically they are all the same film but with different characters.
Fair enough, he has a recognisable style and is sticking to it.
I do really like "The Royal Tenenbaums", perhaps his best. And I know the wife of Bob Yeoman, the regular DP.

What does drive me mad though, is the continual goofs with automobiles in Anderson films.
In this latest hotel film, set in the 1930's, there is a bright pink Piaggio APE three wheeled truck. Why? No attempt to even mock it up like a 30's vehicle.

Most blatant of all, in "Moonrise Kingdom", a film we are constantly reminded is set in 1965, the only car on the island, the police car, is a 1968 Plymouth wagon.
And later, after the hurricane, as we are surveying the damage, there's a wrecked VW Beetle, but it's a mid 70's version.

Since they spend so much effort getting every other art department detail right, why so careless with the cars?


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## MaxBuck (Apr 4, 2013)

Odradek said:


> Since they spend so much effort getting every other art department detail right, why so careless with the cars?


Actually, they don't get every other detail right. It's as though they intentionally get certain things just a bit (or quite a lot, in some cases) wrong. Jarring effect, which perhaps is what Anderson is looking for.


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