Colorful, confusing, and not Anderson's best work.

Rating: 5/10 (27 March 2014)

I saw this movie this evening with a feeling of anticipation. After "Moonrise Kingdom" (my own personal Anderson favorite), I was somewhat skeptical that he could top my favorite, and my skepticism was justified. It was colorful, and had quite a few laughs, but that's about it. A lot of actors were quite simply under-used. Tilda Swinton had so little to do that a simple portrait of her would have sufficed. Bill Murray with his oh-so-obvious American accent was totally out of place. I suppose if I had read the works of Stefan Zweig, I might have enjoyed this movie more than I did. But then there's the possibility that I wouldn't have enjoyed Zweig either. Over the years, I have come to judge movies by whether or not I would want to view it more than once, and perhaps purchase a copy of it. I have a copy of "Moonrise Kingdom" which I have viewed a number of times. It is part of small collection that I like to watch on occasion. Sadly, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" will never be part of this collection.