[Review] Asteroid City (6/10)

 

Title - Asteroid City
Production - Focus Features, Indian Paintbrush, American Empirical Pictures
Starring - Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Jake Ryan, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Bryan Cranston, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Stephen Park, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Tony Revolori, Grace Edwards, Sophia Lillis, Bob Balaban, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie
Writer - Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
Director - Wes Anderson
Release - 16 June 2023

At this point I think it's just bragging rights for Wes Anderson to have a full list of recognizable names and A-listers on his poster.

Do we really need Margot Robbie or Hong Chau to come in for one minute screentime? Or, do we really need Jeff Goldblum to do mocap (I'm assuming it's motion-capture)? It looked CGI to me anyway.

Lately, Anderson's movie feels like experimental. Instead of telling a linear story, perhaps he got bored and now trying something new. 

I have a feeling Tom Hanks' role was meant to be Bill Murray; but since Murray is currently in some sort of a bind, this marks Hanks first collaboration into the world of Wes Anderson. Unfortunately, his role and this movie will be forgotten in months down the road.

Not to say there weren't some bright sparks. Jeffrey Wright and Scarlett Johannson continue to prove they belonged in the Anderson-universe. So was first timer Rupert Friend and Sophia Lillis. Anderson's other usual suspects all delivered.

While the story was something that could only be cooked up by Anderson, however, it wasn't one of his interesting ones. And while there was definitely that glee stemming from seeing the symmetrical pictures and the usual Anderson-type of acting and delivery, I wasn't a fan of the disjointed storytelling - jumping from the main story to the behind-the-scene stuff.