Asteroid City
Asteroid City
Starring Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright
Directed by Wes Anderson
Woven through a framed narrative story involving playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton) who wrote the play, "Asteroid City" is a film within a film about the fictional desert town of Asteroid City, where a group of students have gathered to participate in the annual Junior Stargazer convention. Wartime photographer Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman) brings his son Woodrow (Jake Ryan) and his three daughters to the event, hiding the fact that their mother passed away three weeks earlier. Also in attendance is actress Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson) who brings her daughter to the event, as well as a busload of young students led by teacher June Douglas (Maya Hawke), singing cowboy Montana (Rupert Friend) and his band, three other students and their parents participating in the Stargazer convention, and Augie's father-in-law Stanley (Tom Hanks) who's called in to bring the children home after their car breaks down.
During the awards ceremony officiated by General Grif Gibson (Jeffrey Wright), a UFO appears and an alien descends, taking with it the meteorite that landed in the town thousands of years before. As everyone is quarantined in the small town, Augie and Midge fall for one another, as does Woodrow and Midge's daughter Dinah (Grace Edwards). Meanwhile the Junior Stargazers work to get the news of the alien's arrival out of quarantine so the world will know what happened, and Woodrow and his sisters deal with their mother's untimely death.
The Good:
Wes Anderson is a directorial genius, a man who's intellect and unique vision for storytelling is unparalleled. He crafts such interesting stories that intersect with one another in fascinating ways, bringing in a venerable who's who among A-list celebrities to play the parts, and brings them all together into a wonderful, whimsical film that'll leave you smiling from ear to ear. His style is so refreshing and different that you can't help but appreciate it, and the painstaking time and effort it takes to bring his vision to life.
"Asteroid City" is no different, as the film is packed with Anderson's signature style and even shifts from the live action "play" and the "behind the scenes" events that brought it to life. It's split where the behind the scenes stuff is filmed in black and white with a smaller aspect ratio, while the play itself is grandiose, stretching the entire screen, and illuminated with the most illustrious use of colors I've seen in any film in recent memory.
The script - co-written by Anderson and Roman Coppola (the son if iconic director Francis Ford Coppola) - is, as expected, sharp and witty with the trademark stoic performances that belie an undercurrent of emotions that are so bottled up it's hilarious as you'd expect them to showcase some sort of emotion, but all their speeches are flat and emotionless, and pure cinematic gold. To be able to tell so many interconnecting stories within a 105 minute film is a thing of pure wonder, to which Anderson and Coppola more than live up to. Not only that, but he manages to make us care for even the smallest character by providing powerful storytelling through non-conventional means. While no one showcases any amount of emotion, you feel it oozing through their words.
And to deliver those words, Anderson brings together a huge stellar cast that seems almost impossible to do. They say in cinema casting children and animals are the hardest things to do because they might not be able to act, but bringing in a huge cast filled with talent (and, more than likely, big egos as well) is nothing short of a miracle. To have so many actors who've helmed their own films and have them deliver literally one or two lines sounds impossible, but it happens. Where else will you find a film where Margot Robbie is billed eighteenth? Or where new sensation Hong Chau has less than five minutes of airtime? More importantly, how do you make these Oscar-nominated actors (among a slew of others) stand out for their short time on screen? You have to see it to believe it, but Anderson makes you believe.
Jason Schwartzman is the main character here, playing war photographer Augie with this refreshing sense of self-awareness that he's not fully understanding his own part in this whole production. He doesn't know his motives, which shows in his uncertain performance as he struggles to tell his children of their mother's death, form a relationship with a starlet, and deal with his father-in-law's constant disapproval. Scarlett Johansson's starlet Midge is also compelling, wondering how she can still stay fresh in a world where age matters, as well as continually honing in on her talent. While these are the two leads, everyone else commands the screen in their own way, and to list them all would take another review in and of itself to give the appreciation and respect they deserve.
The gods looked down kindly on us by having Anderson meet cinematographer Robert Yeoman, as together they craft things that are visually special in the most wonderful way. The set designs make it look like you're watching a play (which, essentially, is the point of the film) with the background scenery never really changing as the screen is illuminated in beautiful blues and oranges, and the building designs spare no expense to teleport you to the 1950s, each one giving their own charm.
The Bad:
If you're not fan of Wes Anderson's work, I question why you're watching this in the first place. Still, if you don't like his style, you'll probably find the film a bit boring and hard to follow, but basically that's the only negative thing I can say about this - and it's not even about the movie.
The Verdict:
Combining all the elements that made Wes Anderson an iconic director, "Asteroid City" melds everything into a visually beautiful whole filled with top-notch performances and a razor-sharp script told as only Anderson can.
The Score: A+
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