--- title: "The Grand Budapest Hotel: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-grand-budapest-hotel/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-grand-budapest-hotel" critics_score: 85 critics_reviews: 13 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014): what the critics said Critics' score 85 from 13 reviews: 13 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The consensus is strongly positive, with praise centred on Ralph Fiennes and the precision of Wes Anderson’s filmmaking. Most critics find Fiennes both sharply funny and unexpectedly moving as Gustave, giving the elaborate caper a persuasive human centre. The production design, intricate storytelling and comic timing draw repeated praise, as does the melancholy beneath the farce. Across the reviews, Anderson’s familiar style is widely seen as serving a warmer, more emotionally substantial story about loyalty, decency and a disappearing world. The differences are largely matters of enthusiasm rather than outright dissent. Empire acknowledges that the degree of stylisation may divide viewers, while Collider finds the emotional bond between Gustave and Zero slightly calculated. The Playlist’s reservation is more practical: the pace slackens in the final third after a strong opening. These caveats leave a broadly consistent response, with even the more qualified reviews admiring the performances and detailed filmmaking. ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Rating 4/4. 6 March 2014. The critic calls it a four-star delight that elevates Anderson's familiar approach into magnificent entertainment. He singles out Ralph Fiennes' transformative performance as Gustave H. for giving the world heft and reality. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-grand-budapest-hotel-20140307-story.html) ## Radio Times — Calum Baker Rating 5/5. Baker states Anderson's meticulous style reaches its most complete expression in this poignant period comedy, with Fiennes' poised performance revealing emotional depths amid manic escapades. The screenplay, score, camerawork and overall artistry are praised as unmissable. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-nop5jj/the-grand-budapest-hotel/) ## The Telegraph — Jenny McCartney Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). Wes Anderson's latest is a triumphant Nazi-era caper of loyalty and love set in a made-up alpine country. Fiennes invests his eccentric concierge with profound moral sense amid fading grandeur and encroaching thuggery. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/10683217/The-Grand-Budapest-Hotel-Well-worth-a-visit.html) ## Little White Lies — David Jenkins Rating 5/4/4. 6 March 2014. Jenkins describes it as a sparkling, opulent caper with an endearing lead turn from Fiennes, full of Andersonian melancholy beneath the cartoonish romp. The meticulous production design and tonal balance are highlighted as strengths. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-grand-budapest-hotel) ## The Guardian — Mark Kermode Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 9 March 2014. The film is Anderson's most tightly wound and funniest in years, an artfully precise comedy full of rapier-sharp wit. Ralph Fiennes delivers note-perfect timing as the charismatic concierge M. Gustave in a choreographed caper of art theft, murder and historical upheaval. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/09/the-grand-budapest-hotel-review-wes-anderson) ## The New Yorker — Richard Brody Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 7 March 2014. The critic views the film as Anderson's artistic manifesto, exploring style, tradition, and decency amid historical upheaval. He praises the portrayal of Gustave H. and the concierges' code of conduct as a stand against catastrophe. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-grand-budapest-hotel-wes-andersons-artistic-manifesto) ## Time Out Rating 4/5. 6 February 2014. The review notes the film's shaggy-dog yarn delivers laughs and energy, making it Anderson's most fun since Rushmore, with a manic streak and strong comic work from Fiennes. It is called familiar in style but refreshing in tone and one of his very best. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-grand-budapest-hotel) ## Film Comment — Jonathan Romney Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). The critic finds the film a refined, artificed work that successfully balances mechanical precision with indirect emotional and nostalgic content about lost worlds and memory. It singles out the layered narrative structure and framing devices for praise while acknowledging debates over its stylized approach to history. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/film-of-the-week-the-grand-budapest-hotel/) ## Empire — Damon Wise 17 October 2013. The Grand Budapest Hotel continues Anderson's upward curve with rich production design, a Russian-doll narrative structure, and Fiennes in a show-stopping role as the rakish concierge. It is stylised to a degree that may divide viewers but rewards those who enter its world, ranking among Anderson's better films. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/grand-budapest-hotel-review/) ## Sight and Sound — Philip Kemp 7 March 2014. The critic praises Anderson's intricate, detailed fabrication of a fictional Middle European world as his most complete yet, with visual and narrative riches alongside an undertone of loss. Fiennes' polymathic, comic performance as the concierge is singled out as a standout. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-grand-budapest-hotel) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Todd McCarthy 6 February 2014. Festival review. The critic praises Anderson's sympathetic portrayal of Old World grace and refinement battling 20th-century totalitarianism through arch and sophisticated farce. He singles out the film's dense aestheticization, meticulous design details, and formal techniques like varying aspect ratios and stylized camera moves. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/grand-budapest-hotel-film-review-677467/) ## The Independent 6 February 2014. Festival review. The film is a whimsical thriller and might be Wes Anderson's greatest crowd-pleaser yet. It is warm, very funny, focused despite its multiple narrators and time periods, and propelled by kinetic energy; Fiennes gives a glorious performance as the vain but endearing concierge M. Gustave. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/wes-anderson-s-the-grand-budapest-hotel-debuts-at-berlin-film-festival-review-9112921.html) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Rating Critic's Pick. 7 March 2014. The critic finds the film a delightful caper that deepens Anderson's signature style with greater ambition and emotional resonance. He singles out the inventive prison escape sequence involving pastries as quintessential Anderson. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/07/movies/wes-andersons-grand-budapest-hotel-is-a-complex-caper.html) ## Total Film 14 February 2014. Wes Anderson's follow-up to Moonrise Kingdom is arguably even better and his most adventurous yet. Familiar trademarks abound but unexpected moments shine, with strong ensemble work especially from Fiennes as the smooth-talking M. Gustave; fans will find him on dazzling form. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/the-grand-budapest-hotel-review/) ## Variety 6 February 2014. Festival review. The critic hails the film as a captivating 1930s caper with sly intelligence and genuine soul beneath its artifice. He singles out Ralph Fiennes' brilliant, vital lead performance as the standout element. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2014/film/festivals/berlin-film-review-the-grand-budapest-hotel-1201088058/) ## Collider — Matt Goldberg Rating A-. 7 March 2014. The film is the platonic ideal of a Wes Anderson picture: vibrant, witty, pristine, and a wonder to behold, uniting his signature stylized world with the darkness of early 20th-century Europe through magic and melancholy. It excels in technical elements, design, humor, tenderness, and Ralph Fiennes' performance as M. Gustave, though the emotional core between Gustave and Zero feels slightly calculated compared to some of Anderson's other works. [Read the review](https://collider.com/the-grand-budapest-hotel-review/) ## Den of Geek — David Crow Rating 4.5/5. 4 March 2014. The critic calls it a splendid and ambitious effort that is Anderson's most haunted and fully realized world to date. It singles out the central character study of M. Gustave, brought to life by Ralph Fiennes, along with the detailed fictional history and color palettes. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-grand-budapest-hotel-review/) ## /Film — Germain Lussier Rating 9/10. 28 February 2014. Anderson has made one of his best films by exploring storytelling itself through a self-referential caper that delights with absurdity and questions its own existence. The result is entertaining and fun on the surface while offering deeper implications about influence and originality. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/530511/grand-budapest-hotel-review/) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating B+. 7 March 2014. Festival review. The film is an apotheosis of Anderson's aesthetic with minute care in every frame and a glorious sense of detail that floods the screen. It fell slightly short overall due to a lagging pace in the final third and a comedown from its initial high. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/review-wes-andersons-beautiful-melancholy-the-grand-budapest-hotel-20140307/) ## HeyUGuys — Stefan Pape Rating 4/5. 6 February 2014. Festival review. The film offers tender charm and ineffable beauty that could win over critics of Anderson's style. Fiennes delivers a nuanced performance as the meticulous concierge in this whimsical, dreamlike world. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-grand-budapest-hotel-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-grand-budapest-hotel.md