The Palace (2023) User Reviews

Patchy but Fun, and Polanski's Best Comedy

[MogwaiMovieReviews · 6/10 · 12 February 2024]

It is New Year's Eve 1999, at a luxury hotel in Switzerland. A grotesque gallery of the filthy rich gather to see in the new year, with many afraid the Y2K bug is imminently about to destroy western civilization...

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Roman Polanski's latest film flopped at the box office and got awful reviews, but of course that's mostly because of the present political climate and the line the mainstream media have taken to "cancel" its creator. The film IS indubitably erratic, especially early on: full use is not made of the majority of story-lines, and most don't conclude in any satisfactory way. It also feels a little rushed and uncertain and as though several corners (and scenes) were cut. But there are a bunch of funny and ludicrous moments along the way, and the overall freak-show tone of it - the nightmarish way it depicts humanity, especially the very rich - feels much like something out of Gulliver's Travels. It doesn't more than half-succeed at any point, but at least it's reaching for something.

The cast has a variety of slightly over the hill famous faces, like Mickey Rourke, Fanny Ardant, and John Cleese as a nonagenarian oil tycoon celebrating his one year wedding anniversary with his dumpy young bride. But the best performance is probably by Hansueli Kopf, as the hotel director tirelessly trying to please them all and hold the show together.

Polanski has always been terrible at comedy; much too broad and heavy-handed, and it's clear some of the things that make him laugh don't translate into tickling most other people. But the truth is, I definitely enjoyed this one more than any of his other ones, like "The Fearless Vampire Killers", "What?" and "Pirates". I could be wrong, but the impression I get is that he just wanted one time to make a decent comedy before he dies, and if this does turn out to be the last film he ever makes, he really didn't do as bad as we're being told.

Polanski's last word on a civilization fading into oblivion?

[onebit · 6/10 · 13 January 2024]

Realizing that he himself would soon go into oblivion, he probably said his last word to this rotten and two-faced world, in which not a hint of decency and principles remained.

Almost all the characters and their actions are clear who they represent in the real world, although in some places there is a little fog. Quite a funny, superficial grotesque look at what has happened to the world in the last 30 years.

But Polanski's characteristic subtle style is weakly visible here; rather, this is the work of two other Polish screenwriters, as the main "traction" horses; he was on this list rather as a consultant and architect of the general line; he most likely has not had the strength to create everything himself for a long time . Everything is too rough, especially the ending. It does not shock at all, but rather saddens, recalling Polanski's old works.

The subtle, complex acting and skirmishes that you expect from Polanski's films are practically absent here.

Is it worth watching? Against the backdrop of that endless wave of sludge and bad taste, Hollywood certainly, perhaps his last venture in his life, deserves it. The trouble is that he does not present deep thoughts, everything is too superficial. For the sophisticated public, everything quickly becomes boring, but for the inexperienced it is rather pointless.

The sophisticated public on the planet understands perfectly well what the remnants of the former civilization are moving towards quite quickly, but the unsophisticated public is more and more busy with animal survival and has no time for self-reflection and assessment of the situation in the world.

It is clear that this creation will certainly be hated in the USA (and this is mutual from Polanski personally) and quite strongly in Europe. That is why the rating is intentionally low and there are no large number of ratings. The majority of the population has neither critical thinking nor the self-sufficiency of outlook to independently shape their destiny and evaluate what is really happening around them - they are shaped by it, skillfully forcing them to follow the indicated track leading straight to the abyss, like horses rushing in blinkers...

Like watching a 100 minute episode of Eurotrash

[HuntinPeck80 · 4/10 · 26 February 2024]

How do you remember New Year's Eve 1999? I remember a tremendous fireworks display in London, pushing through crowds of revellers, and getting kissed by some strange woman. The world didn't end, except insofar as the machines took over our lives. We all gradually disappeared into the vortex of virtual space. Oh well, whayyagonnado?

I find much of Polanski's oeuvre intriguing, weirdly funny, frightful, dramatic, even beautiful at times. It has to be admitted, he has a peculiar sense of humour. Cul-de-Sac; The Fearless Vampire Killers; What?; Pirates: these films are weird comedies all. They can raise a smile but rarely provoke actual laughter. Carnage does succeed in tickling one's ribs, but Polanski didn't write that one. The Palace has to be bracketed with those other old peculiars.

This film reunited Polanski with his collaborator from 1962's breakthrough, Knife in the Water, screenwriter Jerzy Skolimowski. Knife has three people stuck on a boat. The Palace has a crowd of grotesques in a Swiss hotel, up in the mountains. It's Y2K party time and a disciplined hotel staff must contend with a roving penguin, an incontinent little dog (one of those breeds that looks more like a rat), a squabble of shrieking Russian bimbos, a stretch of old mutton sporting some of the worst facelifts imaginable (think Jack Nicholson in Batman), shady businessmen, a gazillionnaire with his gold-digging BBW, a faded Italian stallion, and well, other various ones, twos and threes. All we need is the right kind of catalyst for a wild farce, upstairs downstairs, the vulgar rich and the exasperated poor.

Do we get such a farce? No, not really.

The Palace is much like the turn of the millennium was, a bit of a party but not really that big of a deal. The cast do as well as they can, and credit to the actors for playing such bizarre personages. John Cleese earns one laugh for his comical facial expression. The problem is that there isn't enough story to make this truly memorable. It doesn't have the whimsical eccentricity of The Grand Budapest Hotel. The grotesquerie is just, well, gross, most of the time. At other times, dare I say, a bit boring? But the biggest problem, I suppose, is comprehending the motives of Skolimowski & Polanski for making The Palace. Why did they want to?

As I say, it reminded me of Eurotrash, the TV series, obliquely, because of the emphasis on trashy people, but at least we had fun watching that vulgar show, back then...(sound of harp glissandi) all those years ago...

An exquisitely made pile of garbage

[granka-47093 · 24 November 2023]

No rating is possible for this. The Palace is a deliberate, intentional trash, vulgar kitsch realised with impeccable skill.

It takes a special kind of filmmaker to make people sit through a parade of ugliness(in its most "unpoetic" way) and vulgarity, and even make them have a little bit of fun in-between. In my case, a packed house, not a single walk out, although the urge was strong, particularly during the first half. That's due to the filmmaking talents of the director. He couldn't help but be good even in a film intentionally off-putting.

One cannot help, but find a certain kind of repulsive beauty in the fact that a 90 year old director of Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, The Tenet, works that will live for as long as the art of cinema itself lives, chose this to be his possible swan song, the ending of this movie to be the last scene of his filmography. The Palace is a juicy middle finger from Polanski to everbody and everything, including, and most importantly, his own self.

No rating, but certainly worth a watch. The rating is impossible, because for what the film tries to achieve, it achieves with great skill and tremendous success. Low or high scores only signify people's opinions of an idea of such a movie, not the movie itself. The Palace sitting at 0% on Rotten Tomatoes is a great representation of this. Polanski got our lovely critics exactly where he wanted them, made them part of the joke. A bold, thorough critic, if he saw through Polanski and his intentions with The Palace and wanted to turn it all on its head, would destroy the film in his review, but in the end give it a 100% without explanation. Alas...

Dumber and dumbest

[insightflow-20603 · 1/10 · 25 October 2023]

I saw this online as part of a festival package, not realising who was the director. I can't say it came as a shock, but it was a slight surprise it was this not-yet-dethroned emperor. It's safe to say that with this film he accomplishes dethroning himself in what he probably perceives as a ultimate (narcissistic) act of contempt. I read a Guardian review which claims that Polanski despises the audience, but I'm pretty sure it's self-loathing. Casting fallen heroes like Mickey Rourke and John Cleese (and featuring documentary footage of the Russian dictator) may not be a self-aware act of projection, but a subsonscious self-complimentary idea. I had initially given this three stars, because it does have some satirical value, but this director, as it turned out, was hardly someone to encourage onwards. He is acclaimed for an aesthetic taste he's sure to Crush. Polanski in his final act (and perhaps in general) is repugnant and morose rather than remotely funny. Forget all subtlety.

A light stereopical Comedy Movie

[icepeakjr · 7/10 · 19 January 2024]

The movie was never boring, and i never felt grabing a smartphone.

If the movie is for you, depends on your type of humor - it's just as in the trailers, if you are just happy with this type of simple and stereotypical humor, the movie might very well be worth watching. It's not bad, and its certainly not for feminist's. But if you'd like to take your (old) father to the cinema once more, you'll both be happy.

You can't compare it to a masterpiece like grand hotel budapest.

But if i'd see the movie in free tv somewhere in the future again, i'd certainly watch it.

If you see it as a last movie from polanski, with his high age, it's neither a masterpiece and its certainly not a failure either.

I for myself liked it. See it for yourself, just don't put your expectations too high.

Some fun but a sad waste of talent

[Ladiloque · 3/10 · 15 January 2024]

A classic of Christmas period: those movies about a group vacation with bad acting, some nudity, few raunchy laughs and brain damage. Here instead luckily we had something very well produced, with good acting, scenographies and cinematography, but the overall result doesn't reach the threshold of something truly enjoyable.

Watched the italian dubbed version and the text delivery is on average not convincing. Too heavy and unnatural, exaggerates systematically what is supposed to be comic into grotesque.

There is potential for brilliancy here and there in the script, and chances for great laughs. In each storyline actually. But every single one of them doesn't realize its potential. Doesn't have a proper memorable conclusion. Prefers indulging in the grotesque and the dumb instead of looking for what could be funny or unique. And still even the grotesque isn't grotesque enough to become a classic.

Then someone thought it was too long and must have cut 1 hour. Or they didn't even shoot some scenes to save money. The result is a forgettable and weak 1:40:00 movie.

You'll remember "Four rooms": well, forget it. Despite almost 30 years older, it still feels much fresher, daring and funny.

Waste of talent and of a potential good subject.

A mere comedy

[b_velkova · 3/10 · 26 October 2023]

A light comedy for the holiday season with stereotypical humor. That's exactly what I expected after seeing the trailer and wasn't planning to see more, but after the "controversy" I had to. Well, I don't see anything controversial in the movie itself. It targets high-status groups, but that's indeed the rule and we have so many better attempts at it. Of course, a lot of other unconvincing movies get praised just because they promote the right political views, but I guess, it won't happen for this one. I'm not sure if I should attribute that to Polanski's history though, or to the fact that this movie is just hard to defend.

Executive Producers: READ. THE. SCRIPT.

[adamchurvis · 1/10 · 25 February 2024]

Film Money listen up: next time someone pitches you a film, put aside the reputations of the talent attached and READ THE EFFING SCRIPT ALL THE WAY THROUGH, okay? Don't just say to yourself, "Well, it's got Polanski and Cleese and Ardant, so... yeah!" READ!

If it's nothing more than silos of self-contained stories with only The Man In Charge running frantically between them trying to keep Armageddon from happening, then it's all been overdone many times before and it's not worth putting your good money after bad.

Sadly, Daddy Warbucks didn't read the script for "The Palace"; he just forked over more than $18,000,000 based on the Polanski-Cleese-Ardant package and never looked back.

If he had, he would have seen an atrocity on film. A murder of reputations. A tragedy of a comedy. In short, an embarrassment.

I noticed on Rotten Tomatoes that critics gave this film a 6%, while viewers gave it a 65%. If ever there was a time to fear that these viewers are the same people wildly entertained by the fictional TV series "Ow, My Balls!" featured in the film "Idiocracy," now is that time.

If you don't heed my advice, the next thing you'll do is put untold millions into "Dude, Where's My Car 2: Lost At the Mall."

READ. THE. SCRIPT.

A satirical Masterpiece

[derdon1607 · 9/10 · 26 January 2024]

I've been looking forward to this film for a long time and I haven't been disappointed. I was a bit irritated by the bad citics, but after watching the film, I realized that it was a Hollwood smear campaign against Polanski and his film. Non political correctness, non compromises. Typical Polanski style. This is not Hollywood trash, its serious Cineme. If you don´t like it, go watch "Barbie", "Everything Everywhere All at Once" or another Hollywood trash.

I read a few of the bad Reviews. I don't understand why it's hard to rate this movie, or why the movie is politically hard to defend? Is it because of Putins New Year's address? LOL

This is a damn fine comedy/Satire and it deserves at least one Oscar Nominee. Unfortunately, Hollywood these days is all about politics.

Normally, I would give the movie 8 stars, but because of the hate, i give it 9 Stars. Hopefully it wasn't Polanski's last film. He should get an Oscar for his life's work, but it's not going to happen. Hollywood, take your political correctness and go to Hell.

I recommend the film to all those who are still interested in real Cinema.

Feels like an badly made Hallmark and Disney Channel episode

[chenp-54708 · 1/10 · 18 January 2024]

Roman Polanski is a filmmaker who has made some great movies in the past but also VERY controversial due to his actions he has committed. Despite Polanski being a terrible person and I dislike him for what he has done, he undeniably has talent for making some of the best movies of all time as his works on Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, Cul-de-sac, and The Pianist are movies I really love. He has become the separate the art from the artist situation since. However, with his newest work "The Palace", safe to say, it is one of the worst movies I have ever seen in my entire life.

Throughout, the production designs are colorful but the sets and designs do feel a little cheap as if it looks like something from an Hallmark or Disney Channel episode. The narrative explores class and clearly a satirical story about parties, wealthy and people but instead of being clever, the satire, comedy and the writing feels all over the place, disjointed and messy as the writing clearly doesn't know what it wants to be and throws every single concept and idea into the air like juggling circus balls. It felt as if the movie is trying to be similar to Triangle of Sadness but in the worst way possible and at certain point, the movie really feels like a massive middle finger to the people and not in a clever way. As if Polanski isn't making a interesting movie but rather to stroke his ego or purposefully just cause anger to the public.

The characters are uninteresting and annoying and many of the performances, despite the cast members doing their best to provide good performances, each failed to succeed as many of the performances were laughable, over the top, and badly performed. Many of the dialogue moments feel forced and annoying as if the dialogue thinks it's smart but it isn't. The dialogue makes me feel like I am watching something from Dhar Mann.

Many of the humorous aspects were boring, the pacing is all over the place, and really, there is not a single good thing to say about this movie. As much Polanski is a terrible person for what he has done, he is a great filmmaker for sure but here, this is absolutely terrible and might possibly have no redeemable qualities at all.

Oh what a great ending for a well-known controversial filmmaker.

Great political satire

[alexandrsleahtici · 10/10 · 22 January 2024]

In "The Palace" by Roman Polanski, critics seem to have overlooked the rich symbolism woven throughout the film. This satirical masterpiece cleverly mirrors the European Union, with Germany as the maître d'hôtel, highlighting the dynamics within the continent. The portrayal of an overweight America wedded to an elderly brute adds a humorous touch, while Mickey Rourke's portrayal of an orange eccentric man, reminiscent of Trump, is both striking and fresh.

Fanny Ardant delivers a brilliant performance as delusional Old Lady France, immersed in her own world, attending to her pet dog, perhaps a nod to Macron. The depiction of Great Britain as an old porn legend, now a comical relic with a broken nose and impotence, adds a layer of humor and reflection. The film adeptly captures Russia's regime, ostensibly strong under Putin, yet revealing its elite fleeing with suitcases of cash, providing a thought-provoking commentary on the country's internal contradictions. "The Palace" stands as a captivating exploration of political satire and symbolism, inviting audiences to delve beneath the surface.

A splendid grotesque

[rstof-03049 · 10/10 · 27 October 2023]

A splendid grotesque The present film of maestro Polanski is another joy for the connoisseurs of the serious cinema. Non political correctness, non compromises. Tipical Polanski's style of a high end cinematographist. The fairtail atmosphear in an Alpine five star hotel, where the story takes place, very soon changes itself in an avalanch-like incidents in the new year 2000 evening fest. Grotesque characters, representing the full spectrum of the human society, unviel yourself in laconic but picturesque way. A lot of dark humour, irony and realisme in the same time, show us the heros in theire ultimate excitement. Russian and islamic personages emerge like monsters you can't avoid. Tragicomedy of all levels of life. The film is amusable and in the same time philosophically profound, aesthetically pleasing another masterpice of the great Polanski.

Hotel in the snow

[kosmasp · 9/10 · 28 January 2024]

A riff on Knife in the water ... though do not compare those two! So no pun intended as always. Polanski has not lost his touch. Whatever one may think of him personally (I won't go into his legal issues, you either know about them, can look for them and/or do not care) ... he is a really good director! The cast he assembled speaks for itself.

The comedy is something you have to like, but the Hotel Manager is absolutely fantastic! Then you have John Cleese who is able to perform ... in many ways! Even without text ... as his comedy tour says (title): watch me before I die - I am paraphrasing here ... but you get the point.

That said, there is a lot of mayhem going on ... and it all has the absolute highlight at the end ... cgi "joke" ... but that should not matter ... had a few laugh out loud moments myself ... you can have quite a lot of fun with it.

Not Blake Edwards for sure

[phildeesnow · 1 February 2024]

I thought that the movie was building up to something good, a lot of characters with different stories and I keep wondering if it was supposed to be funny because nothing made me laugh.

It kept on building nonsense, but I kept hoping for the punch line. You know, Blake Edwards style when all of the sudden everything gets tied up into a slapstick hilarious mess.

More than an hour into the movie I realized that, this was as good as it gets. Not a comedy, not drama... nothing!. But I watched it until the end just curious to know how they would fill the plot holes, and the movie ends just full of plot holes.

A dog fu**** a pinguin on the back... The End.

Polanski Hasn't Lost His Touch

[chamiduamarasinghe · 9/10 · 26 February 2024]

The film is very good. It is shot in one location(The Gstaad Palace in Switzerland here) like many of Polanski's films. Both Mickey Rourke and Oliver Masucci are great here. Many renowned actors working today would fall flat on their face if they tried to play these two characters. Who better to be rude to everything and everyone around him than Mickey Rourke? But his character has depth here. He is very warm and very friendly with the Bank Manager character. Clearly Rourke is one of the most talented actors of his generation. His face certainly looks very different than what it once was but it fits in with the character and doesn't detract from the quality of his performance.

The film has minor flaws like some hideous exterior shots of the hotel and the final frame is certainly not great especially when taken out of context. But I was never bored and there is always something going on(tracking shots through hallways, constant use of red and green in the frame and an outstanding first scene). Apart from the two leads newcomer Bronwyn James also stood out. She stole every scene away from the great John Cleese when they were together especially before he ultimately went to his happy place. It is not among the best of Polanski but easily better than most well rated films out there mainly because they don't have a master like Polanski behind the wheel.