Jack and I thought we would love this crazy story of the concierge and "lobby boy" at a deluxe European inn in the 1930s. We did. Eagerly anticipated by fans of director/writer Wes Anderson (last blogged in Moonrise Kingdom), it stars Ralph Fiennes (most recently in The Invisible Woman) and Tony Revolori (new to me, he'll be 18 in two weeks), and Saoirse Ronan (last in I Could Never Be Your Woman, she'll turn 20 tomorrow), among others. There are some confusing bits so I'll unravel it for you. The movie begins, I think, in the present, with a girl reading a book. Then it goes to 1985 with Tom Wilkinson as the author talking about the book he's written. Then we jump to 1968 with Jude Law playing the author as a young man vacationing at the hotel and meeting an older man, played by F. Murray Abraham. The latter reminisces about his life as a lobby boy, beginning in 1932, and then we travel back again. The screen shrinks to almost square size for the 1930s parts. Got it?
There are many big names, from middling parts to cameos, including Adrien Brody, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban...the list goes on. And we completely missed a George Clooney cameo in a shootout scene.
Cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman (profiled in Moonrise Kingdom) gives us similar saturated photography and mention must be made of production designer Adam Stockhausen (Oscar-nominated for 12 Years a Slave and nominated for other awards for Moonrise Kingdom) and his team for the marvelous sets and props.
The soundtrack, by the busy Alexandre Desplat (most recently mentioned in The Monuments Men) can be previewed in clips on its amazon page and at least two tracks can be heard in their entireties (one, two).
There are many big names, from middling parts to cameos, including Adrien Brody, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban...the list goes on. And we completely missed a George Clooney cameo in a shootout scene.
Cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman (profiled in Moonrise Kingdom) gives us similar saturated photography and mention must be made of production designer Adam Stockhausen (Oscar-nominated for 12 Years a Slave and nominated for other awards for Moonrise Kingdom) and his team for the marvelous sets and props.
The soundtrack, by the busy Alexandre Desplat (most recently mentioned in The Monuments Men) can be previewed in clips on its amazon page and at least two tracks can be heard in their entireties (one, two).
Rottentomatoes' averages agree with us at 92% from critics and 90 from audiences. My local newspaper should be scolded for printing a review from one of the 8%, a hater who said the movie lacks logic--he lacks imagination. This is a delightful confection.
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