Movie Reviews: Grand Budapest And Draft Day

Two movies that couldn't be more different are attracting healthy box office receipts as we begin to slowly make our way into the big summer movie season - the season of superheroes, action flicks, fantasy and blockbusters.

Neither of these two movies contains any superheroes but one does incorprate more than a few flights of fancy, not to mention nostalgia, whimsy and an obsessive interest in the smallest detail.
We're talking about Wes Aderson's Grand Budapest Hotel.
This movie recounts the adventures of Gustave H., a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune -- all against the back-drop of a suddenly and dramatically changing Continent. At the heart of the film is a basic murder mystery but there's absolutely nothing basic or ordinary about Grand Budapest.
On one level the film is all about a certain time and place and the beginning of the end of the grandeur that was Old Europe during a time when class consciousness and high living reigned supreme. On another level the movie is really about its collection of vivid characters and the stellar cast that assumes these roles. Because, make no mistake about it: Wes Anderson's most ambitious cinematic undertaking to date is very much aware of itself. In fact, for much of the movie the characters deliver their lines, well --  just as if they're delivering lines.
But when the actors are this good and the series of tableaus that Anderson presents are this vivid, it somehow all works.
And, what a cast! Here we have Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Jude Law, Jeff Goldblum. Harvey Keitel, Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson and our own personal favorite Adrien Brody. And right in there every step of the way is newcomer Tony Revolori whose performance as Zero is a revelation.
Grand Budapest should not be confused with Grand Hotel or other classic, star-studded cinematic adventures. This film is unique and very much the personal creation of its adventurous director. In that sense, it's not really a mass-audience feature and in fact it's likely to become a cult film. But at the same time, it does have a winsome crossover appeal.
The film's bittersweet ending laments that "everything has now become common." It gives you much to think about
Grand Budapest is intelligent, witty, fun to watch and easy to like.

Now, on the other hand Draft Day really is a mass-audience movie designed to take advantage the fan frenzy surrounding pro football.
And here's the deal: We don't particularly like the movie's star (Kevin Costner) and we don't care about pro football and we have absolutely no idea how the NFL draft works, nor do we care.
And yet we enjoyed this movie.
Here's the setup: At the NFL Draft, general manager Sonny Weaver (Costner) has the opportunity to rebuild his team when he trades for the number one pick. He must decide what he's willing to sacrifice on a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with NFL dreams. And, he has to do this all in the course of 12 hours. So, the movie begins at the start of draft day and it follows Weaver/Costner and the NFL all the way through the process. Unless you're a die-hard pro football fan, all of this sounds pretty boring, right? Well, wrong.
Because under the direction of Ivan Reitman and with a great cast including the gorgeous Jennifer Garner, Chadwick Boseman, Frank Langella, Rosanna Arquette, Denis Leary, Sean Combs, Sam Elliott and the magnificent Ellen Burstyn as Costner's tough-as-nails mom, Draft Day is swift and surprisingly engaging. It's also very authentic, incorporating much footage from NFL games and the league's most recent draft day.
In fact, the film gives us a lesson in the high-powered, big stakes world of pro sports and provides insight into the kinds of negotiating skills one needs to succeed in this world. Also, it's nice to see a film that not only recognizes that sports these days really is a business and that big business ain't so bad after all. Because Costner gives us a three-dimensional portrait of a general manager who must balance real-life, human and budgetary concerns.
Reitman uses an updated split screen technique to lead us through the hectic draft day process and instead of becoming a distraction this touch actually works. Also, there's that romantic spark between Costner and Garner. Yes, at times the film seems almost like a ripoff of Moneyball but Moneyball was a great flick.
Botton line: Draft Day is fun, fast and fascinating.