Movie Review – Asteroid City
By: Caroline McVitty
Mcvittymovies.wordpress.com
2 Stars – 5 Stars
“Asteroid City” is a Wes Anderson film. That being said, fans will flock to this movie; others will stay far away; and still others, like me, will come to see what the hoop-la is all about. In truth, this is not a film that will create a new breed of Anderson believers. Unlike Anderson’s iconic “The Grand Budapest Hotel” which is a retelling of a story from the past, this film is a story within a story – with the story told in the present as the author imagines each scene.
Asteroid City is a fictitious tiny desert town in 1955 which is the creation of playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton) – and we have the rare experience of watching Earp through the creative process as he fashions his play, one scene at a time. Earp’s creative process is chronicled by a TV host played by Brian Cranston through an on-going monologue screened in small-screen black and white. These rather dull spartan scenes are contrasted with the vivid, cartoon-like color of Asteroid City itself - an oasis of colorful artificial backdrops and sets made to look Hollywood phony. We can almost smell the still-wet paint on the props.
In the staged portion of the film, Asteroid City – featuring a diner, a single-pump gas station, a motel dotted with tiny cottages, a lone highway running through town and a railroad crossing – is hosting a Junior Stargazers space convention. The lone claim to fame of Asteroid City is the small meteorite fragment which is caged in preservation and treated as a ceremonial icon.
The film focuses on war photographer, Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman), who accompanies his Junior Stargazer son, Woodrow (Jake Ryan), to the convention and chronicles in film the comings and goings of the town’s locals and visitors – not the least of whom is Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson), mother of Junior Stargazer, Dinah (Grace Edwards).
The story line is as artificial as the props with Steenbeck striking up a window-to-window relationship with Midge as she seeks to get into character for the play she is trying to commit to memory. Through it all, the artificiality never goes away – either in the silted acting of the characters or the array of vending machines which dispense everything from tiny plots of real estate to freshly made cocktails - complete with a lemon twist.
The main event is a visit from an extra terrestrial who makes off with the iconic meteorite fragment. The military quarantines all the inhabitants due to possible contamination from outer space – while off in the visible distance the government is conducting atom bomb testing – complete with quaking earth and mushroom clouds. You get the picture – nothing makes much sense in the face of such shameless irony.
If we are expected to come away with any kind of message from this film, I am at a total loss. But, while you are scratching your head, you will also be laughing a lot. Most of all, I was impressed by the brilliance of this cinematic experience. The costumes and the sets are quirky and stunning.
Add to that a veritable Hollywood Who’s Who – so you will picking out a variety of recognizable faces including: Schwartzman, Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie, Ed Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Adrien Brody and Bob Balaban.
I saw this film at my favorite theater – Park Plaza Cinema – with film friends Kathy and Roger.
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