One laugh

Rating: 6/10 (19 September 2014)

Oh noes. I was looking forward to this.
It creates a charming world, the production is great, big name actors.
But I got just one laugh, and that was in the trailer - when the concierge said to the police, "I knew there was something fishy", and ran away.
It's basically a Mel Brooks comedy - clever, self-conscious, increasingly absurd, but deep down ideological. Plus the music is always arch, turning every scene into a cartoon.
Ralph Fiennes was brilliant at first, but the cunning of his concierge became less important as the story went on, when I was expecting more. And although it became a bit gay and join-hands-together, there was no interesting female role.
The Nazi slant in the end may have been necessary, but weren't the nasty relatives sufficient?
ps. I had no idea Tilda Swinton was in the cast.