Wes Anderson is a unique ateur who loves symmetry, organization, elaborate set designs, dry humor, quirky characters, and did I mention symmetry? THE FRENCH DISPATCH is Wes Anderson’s most recent exploration of life as a love letter to journalism through a collection of stories from the final issue of an American magazine published in a fictional 20th-century French city.
On the occasion of the death of its beloved Kansas-born editor Arthur Howitzer, Jr. (Bill Murray), the staff of The French Dispatch, a widely circulated American magazine based in a French city convenes to write his obituary. Memories of Howitzer flow into the creation of four stories: a very brief travelogue of the seediest sections of the city itself from The Cycling Reporter (Owen Wilson); “The Concrete Masterpiece,” about a criminally insane painter, his guard and muse, and his ravenous dealers (starring Benicio del Toro, Lea Seydoux, and Adrian Brody); “Revisions to a Manifesto,” a chronicle of love and death on the barricades at the height of student revolt (starring Frances McDormand, Timothee Chalamet, and Lyna Khourdri); and “The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner,” a suspenseful tale of drugs, kidnapping and fine dining (starring Jeffrey Wright, Liev Shreiber, Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton, and Saoirse Ronan).
Enough can’t be said about this massive cast. And I didn’t even mention Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Elisabeth Moss, Jason Schwartzman and others. Some just pop up with barely a word spoken. With such a large cast, I kept wanting more from all of them. But that is also part of the charm. The idea that Wes Anderson is so respected that these actors who love what he is doing, are willing to show up for the most minute screen time, really says a lot about who he is as a filmmaker and who they are as people willing to just be a part of it.
Wes Anderson is a polarizing writer/director. His films are definitely not mainstream for the general audience and can likewise divide critics. I love Wes Anderson because his films are like a kid’s art project come to life. Every frame is vibrant with detail, cramming everything one’s eye could desire to gobble up. Utilizing black and white, replicating freeze frame in real time, switching to animation, staging theatrical performances, and compartmentalizing an entire airplane to perfectly fit each frame as it moves from box to box, are just a few of the wonderful techniques enlisted in a single film. It’s as if I’m a child, walking into a giant toy store that overloads my senses with Christmas present goodness.
I originally pegged this film to have less heart than say, RUSHMORE, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS, MOONRISE KINGDOM, or ISLE OF DOGS. But I think my tune has changed slightly. While I may not be invested in any of these characters or stories, they are delightful and joyous. That opinion has not changed. But THE FRENCH DISPATCH has stuck with me over the last week and I think I have an appreciation for the heart that Anderson seems to have for these characters and their stories. Maybe I’m a Wes Anderson apologist, and just can’t bring myself to dislike his work. But the thing is, I genuinely love his aesthetic and I want to consume more and more of anything he puts out. THE FRENCH DISPATCH is no different and I enjoyed, good or bad, every frame of it.
