Asteroid City
Directed by Wes Anderson
Written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
Starring Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright and a bunch of other Hollywood stars
Running time 1 hour and 44 minutes
MPAA rating PG-13 for some suggestive material, smoking, brief graphic nudity
In theaters June 23

by Rosalie Kicks, Editor in Chief and Old Sport

“I still don’t understand the play…”
“It’s OK just keep telling the story.”

Wes Anderson’s latest cinematic adventure, Asteroid City, is a meticulously designed feast for the eyes with a story that is perfectly satisfactory.

Asteroid City is a meta picture that centers around the writing and creation of a stage show. During the one hour and forty-four minute run time the creation of the play Asteroid City by playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton) and director Schubert Green (Adrian Brody) is brought to life. The story intercuts between the fabricated universe and “real” world through the use of color and black and white photography, respectively. Bryan Cranston, as a Walter Cronkite caricature serves as the host, tour guide and narrator.

The production is set in September 1955, in the fictional southwestern town, Asteroid City, with a population of 87. Visitors arrive to the town for a Junior Stargazer convention to honor their achievements in science. A recently widower father, Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartman) shows up on the scene first with his four children and car trouble. Upon learning that his automobile will no longer function, he contacts his father in-law Stanley Zak (Tom Hanks). Stanley is unenthused to hear from him but agrees to make the trip for the sake of the children. Others start to descend to the tiny town with the huge asteroid crater including a group of school children, a famed actress, Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson), and her daughter, as well as a cowboy troupe. Initially the festivities for the Junior Stagazers go off without a hitch, that is, until the alien shows up.

There are of course a gaggle of eccentric characters depicted in Asteroid City, akin to those we have seen in previous Anderson cinematic renditions. For the most part, it gave me much pleasure to spend time with these individuals. Truly I could go on to describe each each particular of every character that brought me joy but that would make this review much longer than it has any right to be. However, I must mention my affinity for a certain trio. I was quite smitten with the Augie Steenbeck’s triplet daughters played by Ella, Gracie and Willan Faris. The fact that when addressed as princesses by a waitress in a diner, they corrected the woman by respectfully informing her they are actually a vampire, witch and a mummy made my small heart grow three sizes that day.

Overall, I found the latest Wes picture to be fine and well I have come to realize that I have a complicated relationship with Mr. Anderson’s work. Who’s ready for story time with Old Sport bay bay? Circa 2005, I applied for a video store clerk role at West Coast Video in downtown Gotham (aka Philadelphia). The application process consisted of me writing down my top five favorite films on the back of an old DVD cover insert along with my name and phone number. Wes Andersons’s The Royal Tenenbaums made the cut and I recall two others: Back to The Future and Psycho. Due to my almost forty-year-old brain metamorphosing into beans I am unable to remember the other two flicks. None of this matters though. What matters is that in terms of Wes fare, it has ran its course for me. It is typical for me to enjoy what he is throwing up on the silver screen (except Isle of Dogs) but it no longer sends me in a tailspin of extreme euphoria.

Many moons have passed since I set foot in West Coast Video. I have partaken in extensive cinematic deep dives into silent film and movies of the 30s and 40s. Where I used to find myself enamored with Wes’s style, specifically in finely detailed and scrupulous production design, I now see as a mere expectation when viewing one of his movies. It is anticipated that everything my eye balls are being shown within the frame is painstakingly selected and procured for my enjoyment. If I had to distill his work down for me, I would say it is very much like an exquisite layer cake with beautiful fondant icing that is best left not being cut into for the inside brings very little to be desired. In simple terms: I love to visually watch his movies. I rarely connect deeply with the stories as they often often (much like this picture) center around father figures or family relationships; two subjects that don’t often get my heart pumping. Who knows, maybe my partner in crime is right (typically is) and I am obsessing over someone else’s art rather than just making my own. This very much on brand for me and is something that I am hoping to change come 2024 (read more that here).

In the end, when the credits rolled on Asteroid City I returned to my previous wish of one day seeing a picture that he did not write. It is fine for Wes to continue to create the stories that he does, it just doesn’t excite me anymore. It would be pretty darn rad though to see him take a stab at a slasher script, a screwball romantic comedy or maybe a fantasy written by someone that is not him or someone that is part of his cohort. Will this happen? When I consult my magic 8 ball the answer is: my reply is NO. But to be given the opportunity to see how he envisions someone else’s words… now that would be intriguing.