The French Dispatch

There are quite a few movies on my list this week (I am a little bit behind) but, as a huge fan of Wes Anderson, I had to start with The French Dispatch last night.  It is probably the most Wes Anderson-like movie that Wes Anderson has ever made and I loved it!  Arthur Howitzer, Jr. (Bill Murray) is the editor of The French Dispatch, a Sunday supplement to The Liberty Kansas Sun, located in the French city of Ennui-sur-Blase.  When Howitzer dies, the editorial staff, per his wishes, chooses four of the best stories from previous issues to become part of the farewell issue.  The Cycling Reporter by Herbsaint Sazerac (Owen Wislon) is presented as a video travelogue of Ennui-sur-Blase emphasizing how the city has changed but stayed the same over the years.  The Concrete Masterpiece by J.K.L. Berensen (Tilda Swinton) is presented as a lecture about the painter Moses Rosenthaler (Benicio del Toro) and his relationship with Simone (Lea Seydoux), the guard at the Ennui Prison/Asylum where he is incarcerated who becomes his muse, and Julien Cadazio (Adrien Brody), a fellow inmate who discovers his talent and promotes him when he leaves prison.  Revisions to a Manifesto by Lucinda Kremetz (Frances McDormand) is presented as a diary about her involvement in a student uprising and with the student leader Zeffirelli (Timothee Chalamet).  The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner by Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright) is presented as a talk show interview about a dinner with the Police Commissaire (Mathieu Amalric) that goes awry when his son Gigi (Winston Ait Hellal) is kidnapped and the crime is solved by his personal chef Nescaffier (Stephen Park).  This movie is so funny!  In fact, I was laughing out loud through the whole thing because there are so many witty little details (I loved all of the names of characters and places).  I will need to watch it again because I am sure there are even more that I didn't notice.  I also really loved the cast, especially Chalamet as an angst-ridden revolutionary and Wright as a lonely outsider who finds solace in food.  Anderson is known for using the same actors over and over again and it seems as if everyone who has ever worked with the director wanted in on this movie because some well-known actors have little more than cameos.  These include frequent collaborators Anjelica Houston as a narrator, Jason Schwartzman as a cartoonist, Fisher Stevens as an editor, Wally Wolodarsky as a writer who never finishes any stories but lurks in the hallway, Tony Revolori as the young Rosenthaler, Bob Balaban as Cadazio's uncle and business partner, Liev Schreiber as the talk show host, Edward Norton as a kidnapper, Willem Dafoe as an underworld accountant, and Saoirse Ronan as a showgirl.  My favorite cameos were Lois Smith as an art collector and Elisabeth Moss as an editor with a passion for grammar (obviously).  Finally, it is visually stunning because Anderson plays around with color and black and white cinematography, different aspect ratios, and animation.  Surprisingly, I was not a fan of the score.  Alexandre Desplat is one of my favorite film composers but I found the music to be repetitive at times and, therefore, distracting.  Otherwise, I had a smile on my face from beginning to end and I highly recommend this movie, especially to fans of Wes Anderson.

Note:  As much as I loved this, I think my favorite is still The Grand Budapest Hotel.