The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)

Ralph Fiennes leads a huge cast of Anderson regulars and other big names as the roguish concierge of a luxury hotel in a fictitious Central European country in the 1930s. Anderson is a Marmite director, with whimsical oddball characters and preoccupations stamped all the way through his picaresque work, and this time he has really gone overboard, not least in playing 'blink and you'll miss the cameo' with the audience. It would be extremely irritating were it not done with such joyful gusto or looked less sumptuous. Fiennes is also an absolute hoot, playing with and making fun out of his mannered gentleman persona. You'd never have thought he had such comic timing; you hang on his every line. It may be an airy fancy, but it is highly enjoyable.

7/10