Wow, this is the cutest ugly/mean film I've ever seen !

Rating: 2/10 (3 June 2014)

I've really enjoyed some of Anderson's films, and even "Moonrise Kingdom," which wasn't good, had some thought-provoking qualities. This one, by contrast, was awful, and to me it suggests he has become "full of himself" or is "mailing it in." It's not funny, nor insightful, nor compelling on any level. At the very beginning, the worn, 1960s decor was amusing, and overall I got the sense that this was going to be about a small number of "quirky" hotel guests in the mid 1980s. These were people who were trapped in the past, but didn't know how to move forward because they had enough money to keep them at the "luxury resort hotel." I was really looking forward to that kind of presentation, but instead we are then taken to another flashback !
We are then introduced to a "lobby boy" and a hotel manager (who is "full of himself" and rather unappealing) who are living during the heyday of the hotel, several decades earlier. Now I'm thinking that this still might be about quirky hotel guests, but of a different period, and seen through the eyes of these two (or at least one of them). Instead, the film degenerates into a ridiculous plot about the manager (Fiennes) being framed for murder, then plotting to escape, then trying to clear his name. Not long after he does this, he is killed by Nazi-like soldiers (why couldn't they be actual Nazi soldiers?). The lobby boy's wife dies in childbirth, along with the child, for no good reason, and we have to be told that this happens - we don't see the lobby boy and his wife as a married couple (so there is no character development).
There are a few crude jokes, and several murders, one of a cat that seemed like it was something from a "Beavis and Butthead" episode. Overall, this was a very unpleasant cinematic experience, and even the special effects, which tried to create a cute and "magical" atmosphere, did not fit in well - some were used over and over again, to the point of being irritating. If you are not going to create realistic characters, then there needs to be something compelling. The special effects certainly don't make up for this shortfall, as can be the case in action or sci-fi movies, nor is there anything in the plot that works, such as an elaborate murder mystery. It's not even a "feel good" film with a message about "personal redemption" or "doing the right thing."
Now I'm all for "dark" films about subjects like "losing faith" (which often contain insights one can't help but ponder), yet you're not going to get anything like that here either! As my title suggests, this is a bizarre "cute" yet mean and nasty effort, and I gave it an extra star because it's outright weird, conceptually. I was not impressed by "Moonrise Kingdom," but I think I understood the "coming of age" idea behind it; with this film, I am left wondering what Anderson was trying to accomplish. If you enjoy this film, that's fine with me, though I have no idea what you could have found compelling or humorous, but if you think it's some sort of contribution to the history of cinema, I think you would benefit from taking some college courses on this subject. If you are a fan of old, silly-looking decor, go ahead and watch the first ten minutes, but after that, I can't imagine what anyone could enjoy about it, other than a few seconds here or there.