The French Dispatch

The French Dispatch is a French subsidiary of a Kansas newspaper. Every week it provides articles from renowned journalists. When the long-serving editor dies, as per his wishes The French Dispatch closes but not before a final edition. In it are four articles, details of which the film illustrates.

I generally enjoy Wes Anderson's films and have seen all of them with Rushmore, The Fantastic Mr Fox and The Royal Tenenbaums being my favourites. They tend to be quirkily funny but can be difficult to get into. With his recent films Anderson has also amped up the special effects and cinematography, making the films visually more stylish and art-like.

This is not a problem as long as the visual effects don't replace a good plot. With The French Dispatch, that's exactly where the problem lies.

We have a central story - the final edition of a newspaper - plus four sub-stories (the four articles) none of which prove to be very engaging. Things just happen, sometimes in very haphazard, random ways with no attempt to draw in the audience. While quirky, none of the stories are funny enough to make the film a comedy and carry it that way.

The cinematography and special effects are stunning but without a decent plot and level of engagement they're just nice-to-look-at images, bereft of meaning.

Also can't fault the cast which is heavily star-laden: Benicio Del Toro, Bill Murray (as always, for a Wes Anderson film), Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Lea Seydoux, Timothee Chalamet, Jeffrey Wright, Owen Wilson, Bob Balaban, Henry Winkler, Elisabeth Moss, Christoph Waltz, Alex Lawther, Liev Schreiber, Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Jason Schwartzman. Such is the saturation of stars that some only appear for 20 seconds or so!

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

Kansas Evening Sun is closing with the death of its editor. It has a foreign bureau in post-war Paris run by Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray) who has cultivated a stable of eccentric writers. This follows three of the articles. This is a Wes Anderson film.

This has the Wes Anderson cohorts with a few new members. The style is all him and I love it. I love Moses and Simone. I really like the first story. I wouldn't mind if that's the whole movie. The second story is interesting but Wes is essentially taking pot shots at young idealistic protesters. I kept thinking that some younger viewers are going yell out Boomer at the screen. It's trying to be humorous but it's missing that other point of view. The third story is the least interesting to me. I'm not sure if it's the structure or the actual story. I really lost interest by that point. I wish that this is a whole movie about Moses and his artistic adventures.

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.

I couldn't care. I just couldn't bring myself to care for anything that happens in this film or for any character who inhabits this story or for any actor who is a part of its ensemble or for any stylistic choices the director makes. A Wes Anderson film at first looked wonderfully quaint & quirky to me and I've given them the benefit of doubt over the years. But not anymore. This is it. His films are not for me.

The French Dispatch is a Wes Anderson film through n through. And I don't mean it in a good way. Like most of his works that I've seen so far, the visual aesthetic is no doubt appealing to the eye, it is beautifully shot, comes decorated with exquisite set pieces, and is steered by an ensemble of Hollywood A-listers. And just like most of his films, it is emotionally disconnected, tediously paced, and devoid of any flavours.

The story finds the American filmmaker in self-indulgent mode and he surely makes the most of it, thus resulting in a movie that's not only unbearable but also one that feels twice as long. Add to that, the oddball characters remain cold & distant, the nonsensical ramblings goes on forever yet never create any intrigue or interest, the laughs in store are few n far between and Alexandre Desplat's score only adds to the eccentricity.

Overall, The French Dispatch is one of the blandest films I've sat through and is arguably the worst film of the year for me, and certainly the most disappointing. Fans of the filmmaker will have a better time with it than I did and may even find it delightful & amusing. But for me, this was an absolute chore from start to finish that also affirmed what I've known for a while now. Wes Anderson films are simply not to my taste and I'm perfectly okay with that.