Wes Anderson’s seventh feature length film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, is a tribute to the art of storytelling. At exactly one-hundred minutes, the terse, yet deeply circumstantial saga inspired by the writings of Austrian novelist Stefan Zweig tells the intermingling tales of the eccentric and articulate concierge M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes), his valet Mr. Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham & Tony Revolori), and a curious young writer (Jude Law). From these characters spring the dismal nature of war, the desperation of lovers, the importance of good will, the brutality of greed, and the value of deep and enduring friendship. Aside from the characteristically Andersonian set design, costume design, and original soundtrack by Alexandre Desplat (known also for Argo, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and The King’s Speech), Anderson’s film has the cast of the year (so far). 95 percent of my anticipation for this film came from the original casting call. The aforementioned Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, and Jude Law are joined by Adrien Brody, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Mathieu Amalric, William Dafoe, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson, and Bob Balaban who all share an electric on-screen chemistry. After casting Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward to play the lead roles in his 2012 film, Moonrise Kingdom, Anderson upholds his reputation for impeccable casting and recruits the precocious Tony Revolori (Zero) and Saoirse Ronan (Agatha) to play the leading love interests in the film. Like a young Jason Schwartzman in Rushmore (1998), they both do a terrific job of assimilating into the iconic Andersonian culture. They cater the art of nostalgia with bold and articulate dialogue that makes their characters both memorable and highly entertaining to watch. The dialogue in this film is also worth mentioning, especially M. Gustave whose every line is like poetry (an art that he shares a fond affection for in the film). And for this reason it is Ralph Fiennes, in my opinion, who steals the show. For all the great that this film was, the ending was not as developed as it could have been. Trimming the means to give time for developing the ends, could have helped with the overall engagement of the film, while keeping it at a terse 100 minutes.