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Jacqueline Monahan's Movie Reviews

The Grand Budapest Hotel | Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, Tom Wilkinson, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Tilda Swinton, Saoirse Ronan, Jude Law | Review

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4 Chicks SmallJacqueline Monahan

Jacqueline  Monahan

Las Vegas Round The Clock
http://www.lasvegasroundtheclock.com
Jacqueline Monahan is an educator for the GEAR UP program at UNLV.
She is also an entertainment reporter for Lasvegasroundtheclock.com
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The Grand Budapest Hotel | Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, Tom Wilkinson, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Tilda Swinton, Saoirse Ronan, Jude Law | Review

Writer/Director Wes Anderson’s (Moonrise Kingdom) latest offering – his eighth - centers on the exploits of one M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) concierge of the titular hotel and his faithful lobby boy, Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori) on the lam from the law after a priceless painting disappears.

How this all comes about is told by a famous aging author (Tom Wilkinson) who in his younger days (played by Jude Law) encounters a man known as Mr. Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham) the film’s narrator, detailing his adventures as a lobby boy named Zero.

M. Gustave, legendary concierge of the Grand Budapest Hotel, carries on an affair with wealthy, elderly Madame D. (Tilda Swinton) who, upon her mysterious death, bequeaths him an outrageously valuable painting entitled Boy with an Apple.  This enrages Madame D’s son Dmitri (Adrien Brody) who ejects Gustave and Zero from the family mansion after the will is read, but not before they make off with the painting, leaving a lewd sketch in its place.  Gustave is framed for the theft and charged with the murder of Madame M.

On their trail for various reasons are Chief of Police Henckels (Edward Norton) Deputy Kovacs (Jeff Goldblum) and Jopling (Willem Dafoe) an assassin hired by Dmitri, in a winding trail that intersects, collides, ricochets, and skis through a series of odd circumstances that include a jailbreak (look for Harvey Keitel as tough inmate Ludwig) a snow-bound visit to a hilltop monastery, Zero’s love interest Agatha (Saoirse Ronan) a girl with a birthmark in the shape of Mexico on her face, and lots of pastries from Mendl’s bakery that sometimes contain metal tools.

The crazy quilt comes together in a (literally) colorful way weaving the tale into a journey of quiet hilarity that is heightened by the characters’ serious, straight-man posturing, which highlight the absurd elements (and there are many) even more.  Oddball idiosyncrasies?  Only in every direction; no one is permitted to be boring.
Ralph Fiennes astounds with his portrayal of the foppish, overly proper Gustave; newcomer Tony Revolori is able to hold his own, a penciled-in mustache hugging his upper lip.  It won’t be the first one you encounter, by any means.
A nearly unrecognizable Tilda Swinton as Madame D. is both creepy and campy.  You will recognize familiar faces within the large cast, including Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, and Owen Wilson.

Anderson’s color compositions and aspect ratios change with each time period covered in the film (30’s, 60’s, 80’s) resulting in mesmerizing visuals that invade, surround, and enhance the sometimes madcap, sometimes violent tale.
 
It’s a farce, a caper, a magic carpet ride of mustachioed madness, just waiting for visitors to check in for a 100-minute stay.  

No reservation required.

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