Cast
Johnny Depp-Tonto
Armie Hammer-John Reid, a k a the Lone Ranger
Tom Wilkinson-Latham Cole
William Fichtner-Butch Cavendish
Barry Pepper-Capt. Fuller
James Badge Dale-Dan Reid
Ruth Wilson-Rebecca Reid
Helena Bonham Carter-Red Harrington
Saginaw Grant-Chief Big Bear
Review: Being a confirmed baby boomer I remember the legend of The Lone Ranger and Tonto, with a mighty hi-ho silver away and the William Tell overture bringing nostalgic memories of television shows past. Before the The Lone Ranger was part of the television landscape his stories came on the heels of the great depression, and at the time was a popular adventure radio broadcast. The series in both cases were rife with cowboy and Indian stereotypes, despicable villains and reflected a time that many people today would consider politically incorrect. The question then remains how do you bring the archaic to modern audiences in a way that can be appreciated by today’s young demographic and please those of us who grew up with the legend? Perhaps the answer comes in the form of one Johnny Depp, in his role of Tonto, an aging Indian, with a dead crow on his head, telling a child at a western carnival side show the true origin of The Lone Ranger. The carnival is in San Francisco in the year 1933, not coincidently I presume, the year the radio show was first broadcast.
As the boy wonders into the tent to see western history come alive, he wanders passed the stuffed bears and animals and comes to a statue of a native American, the plaque on the front of the window reads The Noble Savage in his native habitat. Underneath the wrinkly prosthetics is Johnny Depp as Tonto, not unlike Dustin Hoffman’s old man in the film, Little Big Man. The boy hangs on Tonto’s every word as the story begins in flashback.
The story centers around the building of the Trans-Continental railway through the old west. There are corrupt officials, Tom Wilkinson as Latham Cole, bad guys such as the Butch Cavendish gang, warring Indian tribes, Cavalry officers, explosions, love interest, Ruth Wilson as Rebecca Reid, golden hearted prostitutes on the side of good, Helen Bohnham Carter as Red Harrington, Tonto as a crazy Indian excommunicated from his tribe who becomes a crazy mentor to John Reid a.k.a. he Lone Ranger.
Gore Verbinski directed from a script by, Justin Haythe, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. The film mixes witty verbiage, cliché’ bashing, the William Tell Overture beautifully interpolated into the score at appropriate times, spot gags and plenty of eye candy. The film pays homage to such directors as John Ford in its use of Monument Valley for location shooting, Buster Keaton’s the General and of course to the mythos behind The Ranger’s physics defying horse Silver.
The film comes across as extremely entertaining but is in truth a mixed bag. With all the attempt to give the past versions of the myth a modern twist neither is really served. There were times that the film’s homage worked so well you can’t help but smile and say yes, but alas those moments are brief and the amount of well edited bloodshed mixed with witty banter distracts rather than invites.
In the end the film is a worthy attempt, and with all the Pirates Of the Caribbean movie sequels it is nice to watch Depp having the time of his life playing yet another eccentric outcast. So if the old question was “Who was that masked man?” the new question as written into the script is, “What’s with the mask?”
FYI: There is a scene of a child being hit across the face, it is well edited but still may be intense for younger children, be warned
Recommended: 
The Grand Budapest Hotel
28 MarSynopsis: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL 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. (c) Fox Searchlight
CAST
Ralph Fiennes (M. Gustave), Tony Revolori (Zero), F. Murray Abraham (Mr. Moustafa), Mathieu Amalric (Serge X.), Adrien Brody (Dmitri), Willem Dafoe (Jopling), Jeff Goldblum (Deputy Kovacs), Harvey Keitel (Ludwig), Jude Law (Young Writer), Bill Murray (M. Ivan), Edward Norton (Henckels), Saoirse Ronan (Agatha), Jason Schwartzman (M. Jean), Léa Seydoux (Clotilde), Tilda Swinton (Madame D.), Tom Wilkinson (Author), Bob Balaban (M. Martin) and Owen Wilson (M. Chuck).
Review: Directed by Wes Anderson , this is a hilarious, complex and quirky exercise into the creative mind of the director. Anderson’s eye for the absurd and small moments, fills the screen, and captivates. The story takes place in a pre-Nazi European country around 1932. Anderson uses the film aspect ratio of the time period, no widescreen here, as both a tip of the hat to the time and a way of making the unfolding events a more intimate visual experience.
Gustave H. (Fiennes) is the legendary concierge of the Grand Budapest Hotel. He is a survivor and lives in a world of his own design. He sleeps with rich widows who inhabit the hotel, it is alluded to that he is bi-sexual and he certainly brings order to the chaotic world he has created. Zero Moustafa, (Revolori) a new foreign lobby boy, becomes Gustave H.’s trusted friend and protégé.
Madame D., (Swinton) is a rich dowager who leaves her lover Gustave H. a priceless renaissance painting. When he hears of her death he arrives at her home for the reading of the will. The family members are evil, greedy and would kill each other to attain her wealth. Gustave with the aid Zero steals the painting and a hilarious and complex series of events ensues. Was the Dowager murdered for her money? Will Gustave rot in jail for taking the painting. Will Zero, who is in love with a pastry chef , Agatha, (Ronan) ever find happiness? Etc etc.
The ensemble cast has been seen in other Anderson films, they include the always brilliant, Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, most recently seen in the film, Monuments Men, F. Murray Abraham as Mr. Mustafa, the teller of the tale, Jude Law, (a young writer), Tom Wilkonson, (author of the book about the hotel), Jeff Goldblum (Deputy Kovacs) , the executor of Madame D.’s estate, Willem Defoe (Joplin) the family hit man, Harvey Keitel (Ludwig) a hardened criminal Gustave meets in jail, and Bob Balaban (M. Martin) a fellow concierge and friend of Gustave.
The story, albeit complex, is moving , clever and filled with visual delights. The film is loaded with unique Anderson visual moments, my favorite being, Keitel and company digging out of the jail with mini pickaxes and hammers provided by Agatha inside pastry she sent from her employer, Mendel’s Pastries. Anderson plants his camera dead center in all these moments, this way the frame is centered as little cameo moments play out, interspersed at various moments throughout. I certainly look forward to Anderson’s future mini epics of quirkiness. The Grand Budapest Hotel is well worth the trip.
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Tags: Adrien Brody, Bill Murray, Cinema Reviews, Edward Norton, entertainment, F. Murray Abraham, film, film commentary., Film Reviews, Harvey Keitel, Jeff GoldBlum, Jude Law, Movies, Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapeat Hotel, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Wes Anderson, Willem Defoe