A funny thing happened to me on the way to the Grand Budapest Hotel

Rating: 7/10 (4 April 2014)

After seeing the previews several times, I thought I would enjoy a delightful almost-fantasy-like film. But, at age 64, after going to the movies literally hundreds of times in my lifetime, I did something today that I've only ever done 3 times previously -- I walked out of a movie halfway through the picture. I didn't blame Wes Anderson, because clearly his films have a following...but I thought it must be an acquired taste...that I had not acquired. I admitted that it was a uniquely visually pleasing film, but I wondered why so many fine actors agreed to what were rather small parts. At the time I said that this film bored me even more than "Moonrise Kingdom".
The the other night it was on cable. I thought I would give it another try, but I fully expected to turn it off at home, also. Perhaps it helped that rather than watch it all in one setting, I broke it into roughly 30 minute segments with breaks in between. Guess what. This time I liked it. I'm not saying I loved it. But I did like it. What did I see this time that I didn't see before. Well, perhaps the tongue-in-cheek attitude of the film. The chance to see Ralph Finnes be downright silly instead of his typical dramatic role. The wonderful photography and special effects. The skill of young actor Tony Revolori. The pleasure of seeing F. Murray Abraham again. And, this time enjoying the many "cameo" shots.
I still think it dragged on a bit too long (at 100 minutes there are still a few small bits that could have been edited more tightly or even eliminated). And, I'm still not a raving fan of it. But, this time around I did "like" it. But it won't end up on my DVD shelf, and I doubt I'll watch it again. But, bravo...good (not great) job!