A Review Of The Grand Cairo Hotel By Wes Anderson

In 2014, one of my preferred best picture contenders was “The Grand Budapest Hotel” from Wes Anderson. It was my introduction to his work, and I was excited and intrigued to see more from him after that viewing. I returned to the Wes Anderson well by watching 2004’s “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” often considered one of his lesser efforts. While definitely less enjoyable than “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” it is not a dud.
This film focuses on the titular oceanographer/documentarian (Bill Murray) and his quest to avenge the death of his lifelong friend at the teeth of what Zissou dubs a jaguar shark. Zissou, however, is washed up, and faces financial and crew-related challenges due to his lack of recent success. He embarks on his journey

This film is about aging, fathers and sons, male friends, filmmaking and a host of other topics. Anderson gives each of these points their moment to shine, resulting in some insightful and occasionally touching moments from each of these themes. He never feels like he’s bitten off more than he can chew, though, as each subject is touched on and explored the right amount to give it its due.
With that being said, Anderson’s particular style did become tiresome in this movie in a way it never did in “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” I enjoyed Anderson’s deadpan whimsy in “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” but I never loved it. Eventually, it became too much for me and I became bored by it.
I also became bored by the melancholy nature of the movie, especially its slow pace. While Anderson and Baumbach juggle their themes well, they are less successful doing so with their narrative. The film has a handful of subplots, and none of these are as interesting or emotionally engaging as the central quest for the scientific purpose of revenge. This movie would have been much more interesting if some of the subplots had been trimmed and more time given to Zissou’s pursuit of the shark that ate his best

Eventually, it became too much for me and I became bored by it.
I also became bored by the melancholy nature of the movie, especially its slow pace. While Anderson and Baumbach juggle their themes well, they are less successful doing so with their narrative. The film has a handful of subplots, and none of these are as interesting or emotionally engaging as the central quest for the scientific purpose of revenge. This movie would have been much more interesting if some of the subplots had been trimmed and more time given to Zissou’s pursuit of the shark that ate his best friend.
Although I did find the main story somewhat emotionally engaging, I cannot say the same for the movie as a whole. Everything in “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” that should have been emotionally interesting, like the father-son dynamic, fell at least partially flat because it felt like Anderson was just going through the motions instead of being genuine. In other words, because of Anderson’s deadpan, melancholy tone, every emotional moment seems disingenuous because he seems to include them only because that’s what you do in movies. Maybe that was the whole idea and was meant to poke fun at those conventions, but it left me