Asteroid City (2023) Review!!

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.

My Take – Wes Anderson is a genre himself. Known for his signature aesthetic and uniquely quirky vibes, filmmaker Wes Anderson, over the course of ten films, has no doubt established a devoted fan following.

With each subsequent entry, into his distinct filmography, introducing us to a star studded highly detailed cinematic worlds, constantly winking at the audience, as he manipulates aspect ratios, colors, timelines, and moves walls aside in plain sight most gloriously. His films are not just aesthetically engaging; they tend to be hilarious and well-written in a quirky, down-to-earth way. Whether you love his work or not, Anderson is indisputably one of the most gifted filmmakers of the modern cinematic era.

As a fan of his work, I was looking forward to his eleventh feature film, whose story he co-wrote with Roman Coppola, mainly because it was the writer-director’s first dabble in science-fiction. And, in true Anderson fashion, he dips his toes into the genre while toying with his own signature practices. Like many of the writer-director’s films, it also boasts an enormous ensemble, that includes several of his regular collaborators and brings in a few A-list newcomers, has an eccentric design and a weirdly composed story.

Though not his best work, this retro sci-fi tale of a UFO/alien sighting in a 1950s desert town certainly delivers the expected vibes and a thoroughly mesmerizing and memorable trip, despite being wholly unusual, not to mention widely ambitious. The narrative and its connotations are very much left for you to make what you will of it.

With subtle underlying notes on grief, the human condition, and our constant desire to understand the incomprehensible, the film in the best way possible leaves us with a mind full of endless thoughts.

Yes, it fails to pair the visuals and auteur elements with an emotionally impactful plot or character development that is equally strong and effective, but no matter what you make of it though, writer-director Anderson’s latest is near impossible to watch without a grin and making that the outcome of utterly enchanting film-making from start to finish.

Set in a retro-futuristic version of the 1950s, a TV host (Bryan Cranston) introduces a televised production of (the in-universe fictional) Asteroid City, a play by famed playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton). The play’s events are depicted in widescreen and stylized color, while the television special is seen in black-and-white Academy ratio. In the world of the play being put on, the director (Adrien Brody), is struggling with his soon-to-be ex-wife (Hong Chau), and we see Conrad Earp taking the help of acting teacher Saltzburg Keitel (Willem Dafoe).

In the play, a youth astronomy convention to honor the teen inventors of the best high-school science projects is held in the fictional US desert town of Asteroid City, named so because 3,000 years ago this was the site of a meteorite landing. One such cadets is Woodrow Steenbeck (Jake Ryan), AKA Brainiac, whose father, Augie (Jason Schwartzman), who has his wife’s ashes in Tupperware, but hasn’t yet told Woodrow and his 6-year-old triplet sisters of their mother’s demise.

A pipe-smoking war photographer, Augie catches the attention of Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson), a famous actress, whose daughter, Dinah (Grace Edwards), is also one of the stargazers, and manages to generate sparks with Woodrow. The convention is filled with military people (Jeffrey Wright, Tony Revolori, Fisher Stevens), scientists (Tilda Swinton), more genius kids (Sophia Lillis, Ethan Josh Lee, Aristou Meehan), their parents (Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Steve Park), a school group led by a teacher (Maya Hawke) and some musically inclined cowboys led by Montana (Rupert Friend).

With the locals consisting of Hank the mechanic (Matt Dillon) and the motel manager (Steve Carrell). Meanwhile, Augie’s father-in-law, Stanley Zak (Tom Hanks), is on route to Asteroid City to pick up the kids. But when an alien emerges in a UFO and steals a fragment of the meteorite that created the crater, the whole town goes into lock-down. Of course, chaos ensues.

The town setting would be theoretically ideal for the film’s sense of intimacy, but that closeness and the plot’s momentum are derailed constantly by the flash-out, quick-pan returns to black-and-white theatrical scaffolding around the narrative. But with an ensemble so big and a set-up so ambitious, it was inevitable writer-director Anderson would struggle in the transition.

Along with satisfying our desire for a Wes Anderson film should be, he subtly expands the scope of what he is trying to achieve. The theatrical setting of the story allows him to indulge in his theatricality a bit more, with a handful of monologues that aren’t quite like anything he’s written before, in a very satisfying way. The complicated scaffolding of the structure allows him to break the fourth wall a bit, and then bust a couple more for good measure. And there’s a glorious weirdness to its closing passages—a risk, which his critics seem to doubt his ability to take.

And of course, the film is visually engaging throughout, as one would expect from a Wes Anderson flick. There’s such rich use of colors that pop as they stand against the desert background. The camerawork is dynamic and mostly easily transitions between writer-director Anderson’s various scenes. The changing in lighting is particularly sound and sets the mood perfectly for different scenes. Visually, along with solid performances, are where the film truly shines. Here, writer-director Anderson has put together one of his huge, familiar ensemble casts.

Much of the pleasure here comes from the perfectly calibrated and very deadpan performances from his actors, even those in the minor parts. Jason Schwartzman and Scarlett Johansson are clear standouts and get the most time to do something with their roles. Yet the majority of the cast nonetheless manages to savor their time on screen through both comedic and heartfelt moments.

Tom Hanks gives one of the more emotionally provoking performances, and is ably supported by Tilda Swinton, Jeffrey Wright, Jake Ryan, Grace Edwards, Maya Hawke, Rupert Friend, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Steve Park, Sophia Lillis, Ethan Josh Lee, Aristou Meehan, Tony Revolori, Fisher Stevens, Rita Wilson, Matt Dillon and Steve Carrell.

Adrien Brody, Edward Norton, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Margot Robbie and Bryan Cranston also bring in some of their very best performances. On the whole, ‘Asteroid City’ is a yet another quirky Anderson feature that is mostly pleasant, entertaining, and even occasionally enchanting.