The Grand Budapest Hotel is absurdity at its finest
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| "You! Did you put this hole here?!!!" |
This is the movie we've been waiting for. When I
say "we," I mean people who delightfully drench ourselves in the
theater of the absurd. Mister Anderson has been making us chuckle, giggle, and
poke each other for years, but in his latest work, he's found his ultimate
comfort zone.
In a cosmologial sense, this movie is purely
irrelevant. That's what mister Anderson was going for in this gut-wrenchingly
laughable romp through 1930's culture. We are not asked too much as an
audience; accept that these characters, all of them brilliant actors with much
better things to do, fit perfectly in his twisted universe.
On the surface, it's the story of a man and his
story of how he came to possess a (currently) run down and decaying hotel of
great repute. As it's presented, it's a howlingly poignant look at class
culture and its utter absurdity.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Wes
Anderson's work, this is the best time possible to jump on. Yes, you will be
challenged by the first act to stay completely engaged. But if you meet that
meekest of challenges, you will be rewarded in a way all too uncommon in modern
comedic cinema.
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| "Has anyone seen Llewyn Davis? I have a cat for him." |
Even if you don't recognize the cavalcade of
stars stealing scene after scene in this romp, you will most surely recognize
the hyper-realism of Anderson's work. This is high comedy, to be sure, but
presented in a way that is palatable to everyone. There's an action sequence
that had me in stitches a little over halfway through. Genius.
If the limits of your comedic tastes end with Two
and a Half Men (not that there's anything wrong with that,) this movie might
not be for you. But if you enjoy absurdist comedy on any level, be SURE to
check out the Grand Budapest Hotel. You will not be disappointed.
