- Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Steve Park, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie
- June 19th 2023
- Wes Anderson
Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks and Jason Schwartzman star in Wes Anderson’s latest whimsical offering Asteroid City.
With Asteroid City, you know exactly what you’re going to get – Wes Anderson’s signature visual style and whimsical tone.
The comedy-drama, set in 1955, stars war photographer Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman), his son Woodrow (Jake Ryan), actress Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson) and her daughter Dinah (Grace Edwards) as they descend upon the remote desert town for an event.
Woodrow and Dinah are being honoured for their scientific inventions at the Junior Stargazers convention, which is being held inside the crater left by the Arid Plains meteorite. Their lives are all changed by an unexpected event.
A film-within-a-play, Asteroid City is ridiculously star-studded. There are so many famous faces packed in here but only a handful of genuinely substantial characters so a lot of the talented actors are underused or downright wasted.
It’s remarkable that massive stars who can lead their own films signed up to shoot one scene or a few lines in this.
It’s fun to see all their familiar faces pop up onscreen, but at the same time, there didn’t need to be so many characters and it might have been a better story with less of them.
The narrative is where Asteroid City falls down. It is visually stunning and the production and costume design are faultless but it’s another case of style over substance for Anderson.
The potential was there for an amazing tale, but it never quite clicks or comes together in a satisfying way.
The idea of the storyline was strong and the dialogue was amusing but it just didn’t amount to an awful lot.
The film is filled with Anderson’s usual recruits – Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Edward Norton, and Willem Dafoe – as well as new additions – Johansson, Tom Hanks, and Margot Robbie – and many, many more.
Schwartzman is well versed in Anderson’s idiosyncratic dialogue, tone and delivery speed so he stands out as Augie, while Johansson captivates as the mysterious and introspective Midge.
Asteroid City is a visual marvel, but the story needed more meat on its bones to be satisfying. Diehard Anderson fans might still be taken by the movie, but it’s unlikely newcomers will be converted by this one.
In cinemas from Friday 23rd June.
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