Directed by: Wes Anderson
Staring: Ralph Fiennes, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan
Set in the fading grandeur of a preposterous luxury hotel in an equally preposterous pre-war fictional central European country, Ralph Fiennes plays the hotel’s legendary concierge in Anderson’s funniest film in years. A priceless painting and an inheritance set off a comic caper with dark undertones of personal loss and history. A highly stylized film with theft, murder, love, steam trains and an occupying army, it has an air of carefully controlled craziness. With some strong language and sex references, Fiennes leads the comedic cut and thrust with impeccable timing. It nods, albeit eccentrically, to classic hotels and films set in the heart of a Europe soon to be shattered by the encroaching shadow of fascism.