Wes Anderson remains true to his iconic style and with “Asteroid City” delivers another star-studded comedy full of bizarre ideas. Our film review reveals more about the world premiere in Cannes.
After “Moonrise Kingdom” from 2012 and “The French Dispatch” from 2021, Wes Anderson again has the chance to win the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Like his last films, “Asteroid City” promises a large cast of stars who embody eccentric characters in an exaggerated and colorfully oversaturated reality.
The year is 1955, and high school students from across the United States have gathered with their parents in the small town of Asteroid City to attend the Junior Stargazer Convention. A small family stranded in Asteroid City by car witnesses an extraterrestrial phenomenon.
After Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” consisted of several small stories, it’s nice to be offered a more stringent dramaturgy in “Asteroid City”. The science fiction theme in the Western setting, reminiscent of Jordan Peele’s “Nope”, also fits perfectly with Anderson’s aesthetic.
In terms of colors and image composition, you get what you would expect from Anderson. “Asteroid City” is a visual treat, but it doesn’t reinvent the Anderson wheel either. Anderson’s style is now, of course, a small genre in its own right, which is occasionally copied but has not been brought to the screen by anyone as successfully as Anderson himself. Wes Anderson makes Wes Anderson films and that’s a good thing!
As it should be for a real Anderson, the cast of “Asteroid City” is once again very large and extremely prominent. The stars are obviously having fun, so it’s a pleasure to watch them play. At the same time, Anderson doesn’t make any films for which Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and Co. can calculate Oscar chances, and some roles are so small that they should be described as cameo appearances.
Working with Anderson for the first time, Steve Carell fits perfectly into this quirky world and does an excellent job. Jason Schwartzman shouldn’t go unmentioned either, who is already part of Anderson’s regular cast, but was able to prove his talent here in particular and sometimes even carries the film single-handedly.
Scarlett Johansson, who, after her fantastic performance in “Jojo Rabbit,” would have been thought to fit perfectly into Wes Anderson’s world, falls a little short of expectations, but that could just be her role.
Also making his debut in a Wes Anderson film, Tom Hanks was given the thankless task of taking on the role originally written for Anderson’s regular Bill Murray. You can’t fault Hanks here, but Murray simply plays the character of the grumpy grandpa better.
Basically, Wes Anderson relies on his strengths in “Asteroid City” and entertains with a lot of humor and a touch of heart, after he hardly found any room for emotions in the sophisticated “The French Dispatch”. Especially the numerous amusing children’s roles bring back memories of “Moonrise Kingdom” and even though Wes Anderson’s films are basically aimed at an adult audience, “Asteroid City” is again more family-friendly than “The French Dispatch” or “The Grand Budapest Hotel”. .
However, as funny and creative as “ Asteroid City” may be, the film sometimes lacks pacing, which slows down the story and leads to lengthy sections. A rather unusual problem for Anderson, since the film with its 104 minutes shouldn’t actually have any room for lengths. But it’s complaining on a high level, because Anderson usually succeeds wonderfully in his latest work, kidnapping us into his very own, crazy world.
A sci-fi western by Wes Anderson: A feast for the eyes of movie buffs!
With “Asteroid City” director Wes Anderson has made a film that combines the director’s typical stylistic devices with a sci-fi western setting. This works wonderfully and breathes a little fresh air into the typical Anderson formula. Compared to the director’s last films, however, “Asteroid City” is less dynamic and a little calmer. Whether that’s good or bad, you can decide for yourself!
age rating | from 12 years |
Duration | 104 minutes |
Release |
15. June 2023 |
Post Credit Scene | ✘ |
occupation
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Adrien Brody
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Bryan Cranston
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Edward Norton
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Hope Davis
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Jake Ryan
Woodrow Steenbeck
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Jason Schwartzman
Augie Steenbeck
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Jeffrey Wright
General Grif Gibson
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Liev Schreiber
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Scarlett Johansson
Midge Campbell
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Stephen Park
Roger
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Tilda Swinton
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Tom Hanks
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Who is streaming Asteroid City?
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Genre
directing
script
producers
- Charlie Woebcken
- Christopher Fisser
- Henning Molfenter
- Jeremy Dawson
- Roman Coppola
- Steven M. Rales
- Wes Anderson
production companies
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American Empirical Pictures
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Indian Paintbrush
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