Impressive, if not for all

Rating: 7/10 (17 March 2014)

Wes Anderson is generally a film maker you either "get" or "don't get" ; not getting him does not necessarily reflect the quality of the movie. I fall into the camp who can never quite get on board with him, so it is great praise to say I thoroughly enjoyed myself with this light soufflé of a movie. There may be argument about a certain emotional distance from the central theme, or that the film is ultimately less consequential than it should be; in the background of this caper is a looming fascism; the lightness seems at odds with the potential drama of the original writings from which the film takes inspiration. There is also a certain lack of development of characters, although something about the tone allows for this; in any case, it is made up for, to some extent, by the fact that the thing is rammed full of mostly welcome cameos, clearly having a lot of fun with the little moments they have. In another work this may have proved distracting, but in fact here it seems to enhance the enjoyment of events. It is a fresh, offbeat, well designed and choreographed piece; the storybook flourishes, the wonderfully vibrant dialogue, sets designed to withing an inch of life, camera moves and cinematography make the whole thing very sweet and amusing to behold, and this is without mentioning rather splendid, comical central turn from Ralph Fiennes.
So, to use an appropriate analogy, I found it to be like admiring a really well baked and decorated wedding cake, with all the clever, beautiful trimmings, but when taking a bite, finding there's an ingredient you're not particularly keen on. It doesn't take away from how much you admire the work that went into it, but you can't say you enjoyed it as much as everyone else seems to have done. All credit to Anderson for creating what is clearly a smart and audacious work of art, and it is with this in mind I rate it as highly as I do, but would I watch it again? Perhaps once, to see what I missed, but after that, I don't think so. Many would, though, and I can't ignore that fact.