The Grand Budapest Hotel

The painstaking crafter of cinematic dioramas that is Wes Anderson builds his biggest box of whimsy yet in The Grand Budapest Hotel, a movie that imports the filmmaker’s idiosyncratic style to Europe with all its hallmarks intact. The bright colors, the center framing, the Bill Murray—all are present for a tale that, like Moonrise Kingdom, takes place in the near past, and involves young lovers swapping secret messages and Edward Norton leading the hunt for something, in this case a priceless Renaissance painting. Like Rushmore, it involves a friendship between an older mentor, Ralph Fiennes’ grandmother-loving concierge Gustave H., and his clever protégé, lobby boy Zero Moustafa (played by relative unknown Tony Revolori, in an outfit that’s destined to join Richie Tenenbaum and Steve Zissou in the annual parade of Wes Anderson-inspired Halloween costumes). And, like all of his movies, it has an impressive ensemble of actors, both new and returning to Anderson's world, including F. Murray Abraham, Jeff Goldblum, Jason Schwartzman, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jude Law, Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, Tom Wilkinson, Lea Seydoux, and Owen Wilson. The film arrives March 7, so there’s still a chance for Anderson to cram at least a few more in there.