The Grand Budapest Hotel

Movie Title--  The Grand Budapest Hotel

Release Year--  2014

Running Time--  1 Hour and 40 Minutes

Director--  Wes Anderson

Cast--  Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, Saoirse Ronan, Jude Law, Jeff Goldblum, Edward Norton, Adrian Brody, Willem Defoe, Bill Murray, F. Murray Abraham, Jason Schwartzman, Tom Wilkinson, Owen Wilson, Mathiew Amalric, Tilda Swinton

The adventures of Gustave H., the concierge of The Grand Budapest Hotel and Zero Moustafa, the new lobby boy who becomes Gustave's most loyal and trusted friend.

The story begins with a girl walking into a cemetery with the book "The Grand Budapest Hotel" in her hands and she stops in front of a monument that is only marked "The Author".  She sits down to read and it flashes back to 1985 with The Author (Tom Wilkinson) telling the story from his desk.  As he starts to tell the story it further flashes back to 1968 and The Author's voice changes to a younger version of himself (Jude Law).  He explains how he meets the owner of The Grand Budapest Hotel, Monsieur Moustafa and over dinner Monsieur Moustafa tells the story of how he has come to take ownership of the hotel.

The story then flashes back even further to 1932 during the hotel's glory days, when Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori) comes to the hotel as a new lobby boy under the guidance of Monsieur Gustave H., the hotel's concierge.  It is stated that no one knows the identity of the owner of the hotel and the owner only relays messages through Deputy Kovacs (Jeff Goldblum).  Gustave is very popular among the rich elderly female clientele of the hotel and it becomes clear that one of the main reasons they come to the hotel is to see him.  One client that he spends his time with is Madame D (Tilda Swinton) is very apprehensive about her departure date, fearing this would be her last visit to The Grand Budapest Hotel.

A month later it is reported that Madame D is dead from mysterious circumstances so Gustave takes Zero and races to Madam D's estate.  Upon arriving the butler, Serge X (Mathiew Amalric), tells Gustave that he has to tell him something important but Gustave only brushes him off.  Deputy Kovacs is there to read the will, as he is the executor of the estate and announces much to Madam D's children's dismay, that a very valuable painting "Boy with Apple" has been given to Gustave.  Her son Dmitri (Adrian Brody) lashes out but with Zero's help, the pair escape the house with the painting.  On the journey back to The Grand Budapest Hotel, Gustave tells Zero that in return for his help, he will make Zero his heir to the meager belongings he has.  Soon after, Gustave is arrested for the murder of Madam D but with Zero and his fiancee, Agatha's (Saoirse Rohan), help he is broken out of jail and they go on a quest to find the truth about Madam D's murder.

So, there is SO much I have left out of the end of my description above but honestly this is a film you should experience for yourself instead of being told all of it.  This film is by Wes Anderson and if you have never seen a film by him, here are a few things you need to know;  his film style is a little outlandish, very colorful and it can sometimes be distracting and silly.  Let me explain some of this to you.  His films always seem a little over the top and over done to me, as if things are done on a grand scale with a low budget.  I am not saying his films are low budget but sometimes his films give you the feeling that you are watching a film that wasn't given much funding.  There are bright, outlandish colors that stand out of the background and seem out of place.  Lastly, there are things happening in a few of the scenes that seem a little out of place or distracting but it all just adds to the films.

All of that being said, I am a fan of most of his work, there were one or two of his films that I didn't really care for but that is not the case for this film.  I seriously enjoyed this film, I was telling someone just today that I could watch this movie over and over again and not get tired of it.  I will say that I think Wes Anderson films are an acquired taste; you will either hate them or you will love them, there really isn't much in between. 

It is also good to note that he has a cast of regulars that show up in his films including but not limited to Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Willem Defoe, Adrian Brody and Jason Schwartzman, all of which are in this particular film, although the list does go on.  I would recommend this film to anyone that was looking for something a little bit different.  Don't watch this one alone, I recommend calling all your friends over for this one and Don't Forget the Popcorn!