The French Dispatch

I suppose the gamble of any film told in a series of vignettes is to capture the rapt attention of your audience in one segment only to lose it in the next (see: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs).

None of the vignettes in The French Dispatch ever truly lost me, but one came close. And it's not to say that particular story was poorly written or directed or performed, it's simply that the one preceding it was so dazzling and fantastic I wasn't quite ready to move on from it.

Moving on is a large part of this film as it never stops marching forward both literally and figuratively. It has (a) large story(ries) to get through and if you can't keep up...sorry. No crying.

The French Dispatch is a film told in five parts. Three articles bookended by an introduction and an epilogue. These five pieces make up the final issue of the magazine titled (wait for it): The French Dispatch. We "read" the final issue by watching the articles unfold through Wes Anderson's beautiful, obsessive, whimsical lens.

Visually this is an Anderson film cranked to 11. The photogenic establishing shots, contrasting symmetry, and pastel color scheme of his entire career drenches every shot of this film. The picture beautifully shifts from black and white to color, and always at the perfect moment. His creative and effective use of animation and miniature sets are mesmerizing.

Basically if you don't like Anderson's style you're really, truly going to hate this movie, but your mind was probably already made up.

Seeing this in a theater packed full of micro-beanie, gold wire framed glasses wearing hipsters reminded me of why I don't typically like seeing Anderson's films on opening weekends. There is exactly one reason to ever talk during a movie, and that's if there is a fire, after that there is not one good reason to ever speak in a theater, especially if you're talking directly to the screen which a handful of these people did.

The French Dispatch is an excellent film and Anderson is an excellent filmmaker. I think his style and creativity are a much needed burst of originality on the canvas of filmmaking. It also just made me feel nice after watching The Last Duel, that movie stole a piece of my soul... I like unconventional filmmakers, I like divisive filmmakers, and even in his missteps, I'll continue to be excited by and support Wes Anderson.

Incredible cast, and Wes Anderson's style is always visually appealing, but the short stories that make up The French Dispatch fell flat for me. The attention to detail and sly references were great as a concept, but seemed overdone, to the detriment of evenness (or comprehension) in the plot and characters that I cared about. It needed a better script, one that was pruned down and had more heart. It was fantastic seeing all of these actors, though most are underused to say the least. Loved Jeffrey Wright in this though.

Whether you like it or not, there is establishment behind Wes Anderson and his style. Production designs, and soundtrack is always in its top and gets more and more artistic with each film yet, it is both positive and negative. For me, after Moonrise Kingdom (2012) (my personal favourite by him) & especially The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), it is becoming harder to dive into the film or the characters. Don't get me wrong, it is visually stunning always and you could see the great choreography or design behind it but characters don't feel authentic like they used to.

With the exception of "The Concrete Masterpiece". It was as engaging as it was beautiful. Benicio Del Toro & Lea Seydoux maintained to give something to hold on for audience (or at least me) even though it is hindered by the style.

Also, I agree with Mr. Howitzer. The last discussion between Roebuck Wright and Nescaffier was indeed the best part literally.

I am not in a level or a position to criticize or to give an advice but, I think it is best to returning back to the roots like La famille Tenenbaum (2001), Rushmore (1998) or even Moonrise Kingdom (2012) cause it is getting harder to watch it as a movie.

When one goes to a Wes Anderson film, we exactly know what to expect. In French Dispatch, Wes Anderson gives us everything we expect but he seems to have focused too much on aesthetics and less in the script. The film resembles like a spiritual sequel to Grand Budapest Hotel, but lacked it's strong characters and bullet speed screenplay.

The French Dispatch is an anthology about 3 segments in a newspaper set in a French town. Each story is something Wes Anderson has never done in his previous films, he tries to convey a political satire which often falls flat. A big star cast wasn't necessary for this film but it had it anyway and many top actors have been grossly under utilized.

The biggest plus of French Dispatch is that it has a spectacular production design, original score, cinematography and costumes. The aesthetics test has been passed in flying colours, probably the best we have seen in a Wes Anderson movie. On the first watch the movie rather feels like a letdown compared to his previous work but rewatches could boost it's legacy.

In many ways The French Dispatch feels like the most Wes Andersony movie you could ask for but despite it possessing all the little quirks, stylings and scattered goodness's of the beloved indie director, Anderson's latest star studded affair doesn't come close to becoming a film worthy of standing alongside the likes of Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums or The Grand Budapest Hotel.

His first "real life" film since 2014's Grand Budapest adventure, it at first appears as though we are in for another oddball delight as we are thrust into the world of Bill Murray's Arthur Howitzer, Jr.'s French Dispatch newspaper world filled with many of Anderson's greatest friends such as Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman and the initial voice over lead introduction to this eclectic universe of journalists, artists and deep thinkers seems to set things up for a colourful ride but this collation of stories loses steam quickly and becomes a film that is sure to divide the Anderson fan-base in unpredictable ways.

As an artistic endeavour, Dispatch is as glorious as we've come to expect from Anderson with black and white segments, animated detours, moving sets and witty scripting all making themselves known but there's a heart and soul missing here that's found in the best of Anderson's works and despite the attempt by Anderson to string everything here together under the guise of newspaper sections, there's not a particularly strong common thread binding the narrative of Dispatch into one cohesive whole with only the first segment featuring a wild eyed Benicio Del Toro as troubled inmate/painter Moses Rosenthaler really standing out in the memory once the credits roll.

While it might sound harsh and likely to not go down well with those Anderson fans that see the unique filmmaker as someone that can do no wrong, Dispatch's most glaring issue appears to be that Anderson has tried to out-Anderson himself and in doing so has turned his often winning formula into a washed down and bastardised caricature of itself, nothing really feels overly earned or earnest here and while Anderson may attempt to declare his film as a love letter to journalism and its many worthy figures, the film he has made never truly achieves its goal of honouring the art-form or its participants.

Final Say -

Always nice to look at and artistically as strong as you'd expect from a director with the track record of Anderson, The French Dispatch feels like one of his most forgettable films yet that fails to find its mojo around a collection of tales that never fly like the way you would've hoped they did.

2 1/2 prison based exhibitions out of 5