'The Grand Budapest Hotel' (15)

 

***/**** (3.5 stars)

‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ chronicles the life and times of Gustave H., an extraordinary and unusual concierge and his equally extraordinary and unusual hotel. Narrating the story, at least in part, is the older version of Zero, a young boy who becomes the lobby boy at the hotel as well as Gustave’s loyal friend. Throughout their time together, the pair are involved in a murder scandal, a prison break and the theft of a priceless work of art.

This film has ‘Wes Anderson’ stamped all over it – in each frame, we are reminded of his presence behind the camera due to his little artistic tropes: the over saturation of colour; the unusual camera angles, mainly directly in front of the actor so that they speak to the audience rather than to someone else on screen; the strange humour, both black and light-hearted; and a focus on the strange idiosyncrasies of humanity. It is something that is hard to describe on paper, but something that you cannot miss once you become aware of it, like Brian May’s signature guitar sound. It is also completely bonkers, but with a kind and gentle heart and its core.

Ralph Fiennes steals the show as Gustave H., the overly camp, blaspheming and fast-talking concierge who takes Zero (newcomer Tony Revolori) under his wing and teaches him the facts of life, alongside how to be a great lobby boy. Fiennes is actually a very fine comic actor, something that is usually forgotten under his acclaimed darker roles, but he excels here and it is a joy to watch. The bond between the pair is touching and Revolori certainly holds his own against Fiennes, an undoubtedly daunting task for a first-timer. Willem Defoe is also excellent as the threatening hitman, Joppling, but the film suffers from having too many stars in its cast, much like ‘My Week with Marilyn’ – Anderson seems to have simply gathered together all his old chums, ranging from Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman to the likes of Tilda Swinton, Soairse Ronan and Jude Law. At times it feels as though we’ve been invited to a private A-list party as opposed to a narrative film. Some of the cameos are so minute that you end up scanning the screen for other familiar faces instead of focusing on what is being said.

Sadly, the film just isn’t as funny as it thinks it is. There are moments of laugh-out-loud humour, mostly lines delivered by Fiennes, but the majority of the film flits between the wealth of different characters and scenic shots. Some parts are indeed humorous, but I wanted it to be funnier, and the part wherein Zero and Gustave sledge down a mountain tips the balance from amusing to rather silly, which is a shame. I also wanted more of just Zero and Gustave together at the Hotel, which actually doesn’t really feature that much – these moments of the film were definitely the strongest, and although the rest of the film isn’t necessarily bad, it cannot live up to the promise of the opening half an hour.