It took me a while to ‘get’ Wes Anderson. I remember renting The Royal Tenenbaums back in the day because it had an all-star cast, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson hot off of Zoolander was enough to pique my interest.
But Anderson’s dry tone and weird, symmetrical shooting style didn’t really click with me. It wasn’t until the release of The Grand Budapest Hotel that I finally had that ‘Oooohhh’ moment. From there I’ve really absorbed his films. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou was a delight and I really got around The French Dispatch.
But I’m not entirely sure I ‘get’ his latest, Asteroid City.
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Set in a retro, futuristic version of the 1950’s, the film is a stage play TV special, following a group of brainiac teens being honoured at a Stargazers convention in Asteroid City.
Astroid City is a small, American desert town, home to a huge crater that is a result of an asteroid falling to Earth.
What begins as a bit of a family drama, quickly turns into a life-altering event. War photojournalist Augie (Jason Schwartzman) must find a way to tell his four children that their mother has passed, but of course, it’s not as simple as that. The film takes a science fiction twist when the Stargazers and their families have an out-of-this-world experience that could change society as we know it.
First of all, I’m not sure I liked the whole telling of the story as a plaything. The movie constantly cuts back and forward between the events at Asteroid City and the behind-the-scenes of the stage play that is depicting them.
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There are some really cool visual cues that are packaged with this idea. The play has a beautiful widescreen, over-saturated, almost VHS look. Where the behind-the-scenes TV special is in 4.3 and black and white – too much is going on.
It’s kind of like the Assassin’s Creed video games.
The majority of the game is taking place in the past of whichever era the title is showcasing, but this is all happening in memories of an ancestor in the present day. A cool idea, but I feel like it waters down what could just be a really solid, historical game experience.
It’s the same with Asteroid City, all I really care about is what is happening out there in the desert. Constantly being shown the making of the play, while clever, just takes me out of it.
Luckily, Wes Anderson’s bright style more than makes up for this. From the pleasant score to the colourful sets, spending time in the world of Asteroid City is heart-warming. All ‘special effects’ have a cute, low-budget feel. Like they were made as part of a community stage performance.
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As with all Wes Anderson films, Asteroid City boasts an almost unbelievable cast of stars.
The Cast
Alongside lead Jason Schwartzman, you’ve got Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Edward Norton, Bryan Cranston, Sophia Lillis, with features by Margot Robbie, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Liev Schreiber, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe and the great Jeff Goldblum.
To pull an ensemble of actors of this calibre together is unprecedented, outside of an Anderson joint of course.
As awe-inspiring as the cast is though, it leads to what for me is the biggest problem with Asteroid City...
There are way too many characters.
I just want to follow Schwartzman’s character Augie, as he and his children deal with the death of his wife. When the movie (or play) starts it’s just this family. His Stargazer son Woodrow (Jake Ryan) is in those awkward teenage years. Trying to find his place in the world, and encountering young love. And his three younger daughters are a budding witch, fairy and vampire. There’s a lot to explore here.
As more and more characters are introduced to the story, it just piles on top of that simple family tragedy. Sure, it’s fun every time a new celebrity shows up but it dilutes the narrative to the point that it almost doesn’t really matter in the end.
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Final thoughts
Bizarre, yet charming, Wes Anderson’s latest venture ticks all the boxes that you would come to expect from the director. But he may have got a bit ambitious with Asteroid City. The layered presentation ultimately makes it hard to connect with.
