On Thursday, I attended Amherst Cinema in Massachusetts to see Wes Anderson’s 11th and most recent feature film, Asteroid City. The film’s cast was comprised of a cavalcade of stars such as Tom Hanks, Steve Carrell, Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Jake Ryan, Liev Schreiber, Tilda Swinton, and Margot Robbie.
The film follows a writer (Edward Norton) who is putting together a play that chronicles the journey of a widower father (Jason Schwartzman). The widower takes his son (Jake Ryan), who is obsessed with technology, to a rural town in the California, Nevada, Arizona desert for a stargazing event. While in Asteroid City though, the people visiting witness an Earth altering event.
The Underutilization of Stars Hurt Asteroid City
My initial and biggest takeaway from Asteroid City when I was sitting in theaters was that he really swung and missed with how he used certain actors and actresses. I know that having giant casts and big stars for quick moments is Andersons thing, but Asteroid City frustrated me the most.
I personally love actresses like Hong Chau and Margot Robbie, so when they were cast, naturally I was excited. But the movie progressed and I didn’t see them. Then Chau popped on screen for less than a minute as Adrien Brody’s characters’ husband. She delivered a few short and concise lines, but nothing that knocks you over. The same was for Margot Robbie. They actually made a joke in the movie about how her character’s lines in the play were cut out. I guess poking fun about it in an un-ironic way was cool, but I wanted to see more Margot Robbie.
Anderson also made odd moves giving Jeff Goldblum half a line in the films final twenty minutes. Decisions like that made me scratch my head and somewhat taint how I feel about Asteroid City as a whole.
Wes Anderson’s Writing Has Dropped Off And There’s A Reason Why
Throughout a lot of the film, I struggled with the plot. The alternating between Edward Norton’s character writing the play, Bryan Cranston explaining the play, and then the actual acting of Asteroid City the play, which didn’t feel at all like a play, was overly convoluted. The alternating to black and white made sense, but I don’t think it worked because the actual play itself was the most interesting, not the development of the play from Ed Norton.
Towards the end of Asteroid City, Jason Schwartzman delivers a line that so perfectly encapsulated the film. He said “I don’t understand this play.” I’ll be honest, it’s not that the plot was confusing to understand, but it was just a lot.
The reason as to why I think Anderson’s films have seen a decline as the years have progressed is because he no longer co-writes his screenplays. His first feature film, Bottle Rocket was co-written by Wes Anderson and his college roommate from the University of Houston, Owen Wilson. The two have collaborated through their entire careers whether it’s putting Owen Wilson and his brothers Luke and Andrew on the big screen, or writing with Owen.
Collaborating With Other Writers Benefits Anderson
The duo of Anderson and Owen Wilson wrote Anderson’s first three films together, Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, and The Royal Tenenbaums. All three have a raw emotional appeal with characters that you can relate to.
On Anderson’s 2004 film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, he teamed up with Noah Baumbach to write the script. Over the year’s, these two have become frequent collaborators with Anderson producing The Squid and the Whale and the two writing with each other. Baumbach and Anderson also teamed up in 2009 writing The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which is a fan favorite. Anderson has also written the screenplays with Francis Ford Coppolas son, Roman Coppola, along with frequent collaborator Jason Schwartzman. Coppola, Schwartzman, and Anderson wrote the 2007 film The Darjeeling Limited. The 2012 film Moonrise Kingdom (which I do not love) was written by both Anderson and Coppola.
2014 saw Anderson’s most acclaimed film, The Grand Budapest Hotel. This was the first time he directed a feature film directed that he wrote on his own. With it receiving a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars and a Best Original Screenplay win at the BAFTAs, I think this grew Anderson’s confidence to direct movies that he writes on his own. This led to Isle of Dogs (a fine film), The French Dispatch (a movie I love, but audiences didn’t), and now Asteroid City.
The common theme amongst the movies he writes on his own is that the characters aren’t grounded and it comes full circle in Asteroid City. At no point when you’re watching Asteroid City do you look at the characters and think that you relate to them. The same goes for The French Dispatch. But when you watch Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, or The Darjeeling Limited, you can relate to the characters.
Performance Report Card
Jake Ryan as Woodrow Steenbeck: A
Ryan delivered the best performance in the whole movie as a geeky and awkward brainiac. His future is undoubtedly bright and I hope to see him back working with Wes Anderson.
Jason Schwartzman as Augie Steenbeck: D
Just bleh. Schwartzman is a Wes Anderson staple, but his character was cold and uninteresting through the whole film. Schwartzman brought no charm to this role.
Scarlett Johansson as Midge Campbell: B+
I wasn’t sure how good Johansson would be in this and she turned out to be delightful. It felt like she took risks with this role, especially doing full frontal nudity. She was believable as a theater heart throb for viewers.
Tom Hanks as Stanley Zak: C
Hanks was fine in this, but he did nothing new. I mean, he’s already played a grandfather figure once this year in A Man Called Otto. The only difference in Asteroid City was that he was a tad warmer and wore vibrant colors.
Bryan Cranston as The Host: C-
Bryan Cranston was just existing in Asteroid City. He walked us through the convoluted plot as a narrator, but again, he was just there. Not too much to right home about.
Grace Edwards as Dinah Campbell: A
Much like Jake Ryan, I thought Grace Edwards was fabulous in this. The two of them having a nerdy romance was fun to watch blossom. I’d love to see her in another Anderson project.
Jeffrey Wright as General Grif Gibson: C+
Jeffrey Wright is like an un-flashy linebacker on the Patriots when he’s in a Wes Anderson movie. He just shows up and does his job. That’s what he did here.
Tilda Swinton as Dr. Hickenlooper: B-
I’m a huge fan of Tilda Swinton, especially in Wes Anderson projects. Here in Asteroid City, she was delightfully quirky and inserted an awkward, comedic element.
Steve Carrell as The Motel Manager: B
While there were funny aspects of every character, Steve Carrell was the true comedic relief. He fit in perfectly in the world of Wes Anderson. Seeing him walk around in a bingo visor with martinis was funny.
Edward Norton as Conrad Earp: C-
I do understand that Norton’s character was technically “needed” for the plot, but I didn’t need him. I adore Ed Norton as an actor, but he’s just bland in this. The best scene he’s in isn’t even really about him when the class chants back at him, “YOU CAN’T WAKE UP IF YOU DON’T FALL ASLEEP!”
Adrien Brody as Schubert Green: D
My favorite Adrien Brody performance comes in Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, so I was excited to see him in Asteroid City. But I think he fell flat. It was like Anderson wanted to reprise Brody’s role from The Grand Budapest Hotel as an edgy and obsessed individual, but it didn’t work here.
Liev Schreiber as J.J. Kellog: B-
One of the funniest characters in this whole movie was Liev Schreiber as J.J. Kellog. He was snide, somewhat arrogant, and it was funny seeing a bigger buff actor like Schreiber dressed as if he was attending the Kentucky Derby.
Matt Dillon as Hank: C
Matt Dillon is one of the first people you see in the town of Asteroid City, but after that, you don’t get much of him. I think he was a convincing mechanic, but with minimal screen time, it’s difficult to judge.
Ethan Josh Lee as Ricky Cho: B
While Jake Ryan and Grace Edwards were great in Asteroid City, they almost overshadow that Ethan Josh Lee alongside of them was also splendid. He served a purpose in this film and was very good.
Maya Hawke as June Douglas: B-
I personally don’t love Maya Hawke as an actress and if her parents were different people she wouldn’t have as many roles as she’s had. With that being said, she played a good, small role in Asteroid City as a teacher. Didn’t blow the doors off it, but was fine.
Critical Reception
When I was leaving the theater following Asteroid City, I was walking behind a couple and the boyfriend said to the girlfriend “I think Wes Anderson has lost his touch.” While I don’t fully agree because I loved The French Dispatch, which came out in 2021, I don’t disagree. Anderson has strayed from making films about people who feel real. That’s no secret though. The last time he made a film with characters who felt like relatable individuals was in 2007 with The Darjeeling Limited. Since then, his films have been packed with overly goofy characters that break the mold of being real life people, but that’s fine in some instances like The Grand Budapest Hotel or Isle of Dogs. For many fans, it didn’t work with The French Dispatch (even though I loved it). Anderson has made his films progressively more pretentious as times gone on.
On Letterboxd, the film currently has a rating of 3.8/5 stars through almost 67,000 viewings. When you Google Asteroid City, under the Audience Rating Summary it has a 2.2/5 star rating. IMDB has given it a 7.1/10 rating and it’s received a 75% on Rotten Tomatoes for audience score. It’s a mixed bag of reviews for Asteroid City and I recommend you see it for yourself and judge it based on your own viewing.