"Asteroid City"When you watch a movie, when you go to see a stage play...heck, when you read a book, everything comes by way of artifice. (Unless you're reading the dictionary, I suppose, but I digress.) There is a story, there are characters, and in the case of movies and the stage, there is acting. "Asteroid City" is a stylized comedy by Wes Anderson; and if you're already familiar with Anderson's style of filmmaking, you probably know what you're getting into. In short, the movie is a fanciful and playful comedy featuring recognizable, high-profile actors (sometimes playing against type) set against a deliberately artificial backdrop and stage production. Oh, and there's an alien.
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So, "Asteroid City" has its title in quotes. Maybe it's (another) stylistic affectation, but after seeing the movie, I understand it to be more deliberate that that. What the trailer for the film devilishly conceals is that this is a movie that is really about a play, that is being reenacted for the purposes of a documentary, and features "behind the scenes" moments (shot in black and white) about the creation of the play, which is titled..."Asteroid City". (For disambiguation, I'll refer to the movie without the quotations.) Why the elaborate interplay between these visual mediums and the multifaceted story? Well, that mystery is where you come in as the audience. What do you think it means? I always appreciate the intention of filmmakers to allow ambiguity to invite the viewer to reach their own conclusions, as though they were a part of telling the story themselves as well. And while I can tell that you might be thinking that there's a "but" coming somewhere, that would only be in that Asteroid City feels as though it were intended for an audience already literate in cinematic history and the more subtle intent behind these affectations. This is where, despite the ebullient popularity (well-deserved, I might add) of Wes Anderson's films among filmgoers, this entry falls on the side of more esoteric than some of his other movies. (To put it another way, it is more The Life Aquatic than The Royal Tenenbaums.) That said...why is that said? Well, it's pretty evident to me that Wes Anderson has a deep understanding of film--its history, its pacing and tone, and the components of painting a picture with those ingredients that is very expressive. (I believe that it is no coincidence that the production company that often releases his pictures is called "Indian Paintbrush" for this reason.) My first thought watching Asteroid City was that it reminded me of Federico Fellini's 8 1/2, not so much because it's about a director--although there is a stage director in it played by Adrien Brody, now a regular of Anderson's--but because it is about the craft of making a production, be it for the stage or the screen.
Asteroid City is occasionally "hosted" by a sorta Rod Serling-esque man in a suit, played by Bryan Cranston; it's funnier still when he shows up when he's not supposed to. There are some key players introduced early on, including a stoic war photographer, who is "played" by an actor named Augie Steenbeck, who in turn is played (in real life) by another Anderson regular, Jason Schwartzman. This trend of characters playing other characters continues with the likes of "Midge Campbell" (Scarlett Johansson), a depressed actress, who shares the bungalow (in Asteroid City, the setting) next door to "Augie", and represents one of the few interpersonal relationships in the whole movie. This is in and of itself interesting, because while the trappings of a farce of a Fifties-era sci-fi movie are present--among other nods (including more than a few self-referential ones) and scenes of actors...interacting--it's almost impossible to get a handle on who is who, or what the greater story is. (I'd argue that there isn't one, but that this isn't a shortcoming, but a design choice.) In many ways, watching Asteroid City (the movie, now...oh, that's gonna get annoying quick...) is like watching a play, but watching all of the steps that happen backstage as a part of the entertainment, and that these moments are also deliberately staged. You get an "idea" of what goes into the production, but the artifice is nevertheless ubiquitous. Many have accused Anderson of being too mannered in the construction of his movies. Asteroid City seems like a reply to this, albeit a coy and wry one. All of the elements that make his movies enjoyable (for the most part) are still present: witty dialogue, colorful characters, and specific casting of recognizable talent that both affords high-profile actors the opportunity to be playful with their acting personae in a "safe space", while also adding depth and diversity to their performing repertoire. The result is that Asteroid City becomes the apex of what defines a "Wes Anderson" movie (or the "nadir", if you're a critic, I suppose). For me, it's yet another fun and effervescent chapter in his grand storybook.
Recommended for: Fans of a comical and deftly subversive movie about the creation of a play (named "Asteroid City") more than about the story of Asteroid City itself (the desert town). Asteroid City (the movie, last time, I swear) is playful and colorful, but it is not where I would recommend neophytes to Anderson's oeuvre to begin; that doesn't mean that it isn't funny and pleasant all the same.
Asteroid City is occasionally "hosted" by a sorta Rod Serling-esque man in a suit, played by Bryan Cranston; it's funnier still when he shows up when he's not supposed to. There are some key players introduced early on, including a stoic war photographer, who is "played" by an actor named Augie Steenbeck, who in turn is played (in real life) by another Anderson regular, Jason Schwartzman. This trend of characters playing other characters continues with the likes of "Midge Campbell" (Scarlett Johansson), a depressed actress, who shares the bungalow (in Asteroid City, the setting) next door to "Augie", and represents one of the few interpersonal relationships in the whole movie. This is in and of itself interesting, because while the trappings of a farce of a Fifties-era sci-fi movie are present--among other nods (including more than a few self-referential ones) and scenes of actors...interacting--it's almost impossible to get a handle on who is who, or what the greater story is. (I'd argue that there isn't one, but that this isn't a shortcoming, but a design choice.) In many ways, watching Asteroid City (the movie, now...oh, that's gonna get annoying quick...) is like watching a play, but watching all of the steps that happen backstage as a part of the entertainment, and that these moments are also deliberately staged. You get an "idea" of what goes into the production, but the artifice is nevertheless ubiquitous. Many have accused Anderson of being too mannered in the construction of his movies. Asteroid City seems like a reply to this, albeit a coy and wry one. All of the elements that make his movies enjoyable (for the most part) are still present: witty dialogue, colorful characters, and specific casting of recognizable talent that both affords high-profile actors the opportunity to be playful with their acting personae in a "safe space", while also adding depth and diversity to their performing repertoire. The result is that Asteroid City becomes the apex of what defines a "Wes Anderson" movie (or the "nadir", if you're a critic, I suppose). For me, it's yet another fun and effervescent chapter in his grand storybook.
Recommended for: Fans of a comical and deftly subversive movie about the creation of a play (named "Asteroid City") more than about the story of Asteroid City itself (the desert town). Asteroid City (the movie, last time, I swear) is playful and colorful, but it is not where I would recommend neophytes to Anderson's oeuvre to begin; that doesn't mean that it isn't funny and pleasant all the same.