Pretentiously Tongue in Cheek

Rating: 5/10 (15 January 2015)

I was dragged to this film without any prior knowledge of it. I accepted the challenge (as sometimes I have been introduced to some of my most favorite films in this very manner) and went to the theater with my friends accordingly.
The film is done in typical Wes Anderson fashion - lavish sets with dark, almost dreary colors that appear as though they were designed in the 1940s and 1950s, quirky characters with weird pasts, and a strange plot that doesn't really reveal itself until the end of the film.
One of my major struggles with Wes Anderson's style is that oftentimes he makes the characters so quirky that you don't really feel anything for any of them. This film falls into that very same tragic issue. While I liked Ralph Fiennes character Gustave, I simply didn't care about him in the slightest. Zero was the token "normal" character that Wes Anderson throws into the mix, and unfortunately he was so contrastingly normal that I didn't even want to see him on the screen. The myriad of cameos in the film were delightful for the moments they occurred, but as the film went on those characters were easily forgotten.
Now don't get me wrong, I love quirky characters, but I prefer them to be realistically quirky in a manner where calling attention to that quirkiness causes me to shake my head or squirm in my seat from embarrassment. A great example of this is the set of characters in Napoleon Dynamite, and even Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr Fox. However, the characters in Grand Budapest Hotel did not behave in a realistic manner.
In typical Wes Anderson fashion, the film lacked any real laugh-out-loud moments. The theater remained pretty quiet throughout the film, and people oftentimes chuckled at different moments. I, unfortunately, fell victim to my friend looking at me at moments he thought was funny and giving me that "why aren't you giggling too" look.
Giving high marks to a Wes Anderson film is always a difficult chore for me, even when I truly enjoy one of his films. I'm saddled by the fact that I really don't ever feel like I would seek out to watch a film of his a second time, and Grand Budapest Hotel certainly leaves me with no desire to watch it again. This film isn't a bad one by any means, but I wouldn't consider it a great one either. To me, it falls into the average category - watchable, but not re-watchable.