A Visual Feast Even if the Stars are a Little Dim

Rating: 9/10 (23 March 2014)

When MGM invented the all-star movie with "Grand Hotel" and "Dinner at Eight," the studio packed the casts with their biggest stars of the time: Garbo, Crawford, Harlow, Barrymore, Beery, Dressler. "Star" is now a much abused, much diminished term, and Wes Anderson's all-star "The Grand Budapest Hotel" features stars of varying wattage. As stars, perhaps Jude Law and Ralph Fiennes come closest, although the large cast also boasts nearly-forgotten Oscar winners: F. Murray Abraham, Tilda Swinton, and Adrien Brody; one-time A-listers: Bill Murray; and capable actors who never rose above support: Willen Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, and Jeff Goldblum. Nevertheless, the familiar faces are fun to spot and help keep characters straight during the ensuing chaos. Most important, the stars, former stars, and never-were stars seem to be having fun.
A stylish, self-consciously old fashioned film, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" unfolds in flashback as F. Murray Abraham tells the story over dinner with Jude Law. The complex tale involves Ralph Fiennes, who managed the hotel during its hey day, and his protégé, a new lobby boy. Fiennes preys on rich, blonde, older women, one of whom dies; the ensuing madness involves a stolen painting and the second copy of a second will, a prison break and a bob sled chase, a young romance, a murder, a shoot out; the movie has it all.
The real stars of the film, however, are the superb production by Adam Stockhausen costume design by Milena Canonero, retro-stop-motion effects, and eye-popping cinematography by Robert D.Yeoman. The film is presented in widescreen during the contemporary scenes, but switches to the nearly square aspect ratio of the 1920's and 30's when the action flashes back in time. The camera shots are often straight on and perfectly symmetrical, although sometimes shot Busby Berkley-style, straight down from overhead and, again, perfectly symmetrical. Camera movements mimic Kubrick and either push forward or glide sideways parallel to the frame. The stop-motion effects recall Melies and the earliest days of cinema in their flat simplistic style, and the obviously fake backdrops of Ruritanian scenery could have been done for an early-1930's Hitchcock. While not a direct copy or parody of old movies, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is an affectionate homage to a bygone era of film-making.
While the all-star cast is as bright as stars get these days, directorial and designer style is the true super-star of Wes Anderson's film. The action is visual, the acting is broad, the plot is full of holes, but the cast, director, and crew evidently had great fun assembling the parts into a vastly enjoyable whole. The film is a big colorful bon bon, a fluffy cotton candy confection that leaves little behind except a pleasantly sweet aftertaste. Similar to "The Artist," "The Grand Budapest Hotel" evokes the Golden Age of Hollywood; it's the kind of movie that audiences say they don't make anymore, but occasionally do.