The Grand Budapest Hotel (DVD REVIEW)
The
Grand Budapest Hotel
DVD Review by Kam Williams
Wes Anderson Tongue-in-Cheek
Dramedy Due on DVD
Wes Anderson
films are sui generis, one of a kind affairs as easy to identify as, say, a
Thelonious Monk piano solo or a Frank Sinatra vocal. You can spot one of his
works by watching just a snippet of celluloid.
Anderson’s latest
offering, The
Grand Budapest Hotel, not only stays true to his vibrant visuals and
tongue-in-cheek narrative style but rates right up there with the best of the
bunch, including Rushmore, Moonrise Kingdom, and The Darjeeling Limited which
was this critic’s pick as the #1 film of 2007.
Ralph Fiennes seems perfectly cast
to play the picture’s protagonist, and he is ably assisted in that endeavor by
a dramatis personae comprised of an abundance of Anderson alumni, including
Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton,
George Clooney, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Bob Balaban, Harvey Keitel, Waris
Ahluwalia and Scott Rudin.
The droll dramedy
is set in 1932 in the fictional Eastern European nation of Zubrowka
which is where we find unctuous concierge Monsieur Gustave (Fiennes) playing his trade at the eponymous titular
establishment. There, he lavishes his attention and affections on vulnerable
ladies, provided they’re rich, blonde, elderly and needy. Narrating the
blow-by-blow is Gustave’s game protégé, Zero (Tony Revolori), a loyal, lowly
“Lobby Boy” learning the tricks of the trade.
Just past the
point of departure, we learn that one of the hotel’s guests, Madame D.
(Swinton), has just died mysteriously. A swarm of relatives, close and distant,
show up for the reading of the wealthy widow’s will by her attorney (Brody),
each hoping for a sizable chunk of the estate.
However, it turns
out that the dearly departed left “Boy with Apple,” the only valuable painting
in her entire art collection to the gigolo Gustave. So, when an autopsy reveals
that Madam was poisoned with strychnine, he is summarily arrested and charged
with murder.
It’s not long
before he hatches an elaborate jailbreak with the help of Zero, and soon the
chase is on, with the heirs, the authorities, a hired assassin (Dafoe), and
even Nazis in hot pursuit, as Gustave desperately attempts to clear his
badly-besmirched name so he can hold onto the priceless portrait.
A sublime
whodunit designed for cinephiles with sophisticated palates.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated
R for profanity, sexuality and violence
Running
time: 100 minutes
Distributor:
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Blu-ray/DVD
Combo Pack Extras: Bill Murray Tours the Town; Kunstmuseum Zubrowka Lecture; The
Society of the Crossed Keys; The Making of The Grand Budapest Hotel; Mendl’s
Secret Recipe; promotional featurettes; stills gallery; and the theatrical
trailer.
To
see a trailer for The Grand Budapest Hotel, visit:
To
order a copy of The Grand Budapest Hotel Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, visit:
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