A One Mann’s Movies review of “Asteroid City” (2023).
(Ed: Something weird happened to this “Asteroid City” post within WordPress…. so I’ve rewritten it and am republishing it again).
There seems to be a bit of a trait on social Al media at the moment of people posting (often very funny) videos of famous film franchises “in the style of” famous directors. Some of the best of these have been “in the style of Wes Anderson” (e.g. “Lord of the Rings” here… friggin’ hilarious!). For there is no doubting that Anderson has a filmmaking style that is TRULY distinctive.
So to “Asteroid City” which, if there was an adjective called ‘Andersonny’ (and I feel there should be), could be described as his most Andersonny film yet.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
A TV presenter (Bryan Cranston) walks us through the creation of a new play – “Asteroid City” – by esteemed playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton). In the play, a recently bereaved father – Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman) – is marooned in the desert town during a junior star-gazing/space cadet event. Then a surprising visitor arrives.
Certification:
UK: 12; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC web site: “Suicide references, brief nudity, moderate bad language”.)
Talent:
Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Steve Carrell, Jeffrey Wright, Rupert Friend, Steve Park, Liev Screiber, Sophia Lillis, Matt Dillon, Jarvis Cocker, Jeff Goldblum, Tony Revolori, Bob Balaban, Tilda Swinton, Adrian Brody, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie, Jake Ryan, Grace Edwards, Maya Hawke, Aristou Meehan, Ethan Josh Lee.
Directed by: Wes Anderson.
Written by: Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola.
Twitter Handle: #Asteroid City.
THAT cinemtic look by young Grace Edwards, that I thought was superb. (Source: Focus Features).
“Asteroid City” Review:
Positives:
- The look of the film is incredible. Cutting from the 4:3 ratio TV black-and-white sections to to massively colour-saturated pastels of the desert scenes is like an attack on the senses. Hats off to cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman.
- The cast is an incredible array of talent… just look at that list above! Some – like Goldblum – have little more than cameos. (Although who’s not going to see a film that has in the credits “And Jeff Goldblum as The Alien”!). As well as the big names doing there stuff, I was also impressed by the younger talent particularly Jake Ryan as Augie’s ‘brainiac’ son and Grace Edwards as the daughter of Johansson’s starlet Midge Campbell. Edwards has a really strong screen presence. Also playing another of the ‘geeks’ is one of my ‘ones-to-watch’ actors Sophia Lillis – she of “It” and the recent “Dungeons and Dragons” film.
- Although (as below) I wasn’t a fan of the TV-to-film transitions, there were some clever bits in this. The overpass that is designed as a stage decoration that obviously goes nowhere, also goes nowhere in the ‘real’ world version.
- Anderson’s usual composer, Alexendre Desplat, again delivers a memorable score with some well-chosen songs. That “Freight Train” song is a real ear-worm that just won’t go away!
Negatives:
- These aspects may delight die-hard Anderson fans, but many of the cut-aways to Conrad Earp’s writing and staging of the play I found to be just plain irritating. What made “Rushmore” so great is that it was a nice linear film that told a narrative, albeit outlandish, story. Most other more recent Wes Anderson films are similarly all over the place, with cut-aways to random sub-stories. “The French Dispatch” was at times brilliant, but the mish-mash of stories within the film grated with me. This did similarly.
- For such a wealth of talent, much of it feels underused. Hanks never seems to be fully engaged in the film… a bit like a fish out of water. Similarly, the comic genius of Steve Carrell (replacing Bill Murray in the role who went down with Covid during shooting) is never fully mined.
Summary Thoughts on “Asteroid City”
I’ve used the word “pretentious” in film reviews before, and people seem to take great offense at it. But I’m tempted to use it again here. Wes Anderson is undoubtedly a genius of a film director, but with “Asteroid City”, I feel he has again stepped over a fine line between creating an entertaining movie and an obtuse art-form. I commented on the “Flickering Dreams” podcast that I’d love to see Anderson co-direct a movie with someone else… a Greta Gerwig or a Kenneth Branagh. Someone to say, “that’s great Wes, but how about….”.
I DID enjoy the movie, and would consider going to see it again. But it feels like it could have been so, so much better.
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Trailer for “Asteroid City”
The trailer is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FXCSXuGTF4 .
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