Synopsis:
The itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention (organized to bring together students and parents from across the country for fellowship and scholarly competition) is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.
What We Thought:
I liked Asteroid City just don’t ask me what it’s about. I have no idea if I really understood the point of the movie, but I enjoyed it, the characters and performances. Calling a Wes Anderson movie very “Wes Anderson-y” is usually a cop out for reviews, but I have to be honest, it’s actually a great description for Asteroid City. If you know Wes Anderson’s filmography you’ll understand what I mean.
The movie opens explaining how it’s sort of a play within a movie. Bryan Cranston explains this, introduces what Asteroid City is, explains the people involved in the play, the director, writer, performers. It’s easy to follow, but also 100% unnecessary. Asteroid City is a fictional town and the events we are about to watch are completely made up for the play. Is this necessary, the play within Anderson’s film? No. Could he have just made Asteroid City a regular movie with the events taking place just being the plot of said movie? Yes. But it’s Wes Anderson, he’s not going to give you straight to the point, he’s going with quirky and off-center. You either like his style or not. Overall I do like his filmography so I’m ok with the concept to a degree.
If you skip over the play aspect and just think of the play’s story as the film’s story, it’s fun. An ensemble cast of characters all end up in this small town of Asteroid City. It’s in the middle of nowhere during the 1950s-ish era of atom bombs and big ol’ cars, diners and friendly people. School aged kids gather for a science event and there are government and military people, a famous actress and her daughter, a photographer and his family, cowboy type men and everyone in between. It’s this combination of characters that bring laughs and oddness.
The photographer’s son and actress’ daughter are sort of our leads. All the major players, Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Carell, etc., serve their point, but it’s this teenaged pair that, to me, are what hold the story together. When the science event takes an alien twist and the town goes into lockdown, there are multiple side stories, but it’s this teenaged pair that tie it all together. It has all the styling of Wes Anderson films with beautiful coloring and production design, plus his classic storytelling with oddball characters.
If Asteroid City was more of a straight narrative structure I might have liked the film more. I liked it, but the cutting back and forth between the play, those involved in the play and what I consider the movie itself took me out of the film at times. Heck at one point Cranston himself breaks the fourth wall getting a big laugh, but what’s the point of it? Although to be fair you can probably ask that a lot in most Anderson films. The performances are great. Anderson always does a great job getting strong performances in his style of directing. The script involving the Asteroid City element is fun and quirky. I could have gone without the play angle and all that side stuff, but you have to give Anderson credit for always trying something new. If you like his movies then this is…
RECOMMENDED!
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