The ending of Moonrise Kingdom ended up winning me over, but for a lot of it I couldn’t help feeling like Wes Anderson was flirting with self-parody. Now, the trailer for Grand Budapest Hotel makes me think the flirting has progressed into a full-blown relationship. Like making out on a beach while French music plays and everything. On the plus side, it has Willem Dafoe. And whimsy. Oh God, so much whimsy.
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL recounts the adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune — all against the back-drop of a suddenly and dramatically changing Continent.
My least favorite part of any Wes Anderson movie is always the precocious relationship. It seems like his conception of young love came from an Urban Outfitters postcard. “See? They put on costumes and pretend to get married.” But I’m hoping Ralph Fiennes can be the hell-raising shit-talker character a la Max Fisher or Royal Tenenbaum that Moonrise Kingdom was sort of lacking. Also, I’m convinced Wes Anderson’s next movie is just going to be two hours of a guy giving orders to his subordinates.
