Asteroid City (2023)

4 Stars (out of 4)

Positive Space

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

I'm always rooting for Wes Anderson's films, even if they don't always succeed. His films normally look great, often with their dollhouse colors and symmetrical compositions, but they can seem fussy or airless, as if too many character actors were crammed into too many meticulous sets without much to do. His last film, The French Dispatch, was one such fussy, airless film. Then, in April of this year, an AI-generated video was posted, a trailer that imagines what Star Wars might look like if directed by Anderson. It was spot-on, so much so that it occurred to me: if Anderson is so easily parodied, has he himself fallen into parody?

His new Asteroid City assures me that he has not. Its formidable cast list of more than twenty well-known performers indicates another jam-packed tableau, but happily, most of them are saved for the margins, while the main story focuses on just a few characters, taking time to broaden and deepen them. It's framed as an old black-and-white TV show — hosted by Bryan Cranston — and depicting the mounting of a play. The "play" is in full-color and widescreen, but occasionally characters break out and enter the narrow, black-and-white realm, and the "reality" of showbiz.

The setting is a small town in the middle of the desert where a giant crater is a tourist attraction. Nearby is a diner, a gas station, a pile of busted old cars, a motel stocked with peculiar vending machines, and what looks to be an unfinished freeway overpass that goes up a ways and just stops. Occasionally a strange car whizzes by exchanging bullets with a pursuing police car, as if from some other movie. A feisty road-runner occasionally skitters by with a happy "meep meep!" (exactly as if from some other movie). There's also a festival and a contest where five young genius inventor finalists will compete for a grand prize.

One of these is Woodrow Steenbeck, nicknamed "Brainiac" (Jake Ryan), who is awkward with other humans. He arrives with his father, war photographer Augie (Jason Schwartzman), and his three younger sisters who refer to themselves as witches, vampires, and mummies. Their car breaks down, so Augie calls his wealthy father-in-law, Stanley Zak (Tom Hanks) to pick up the girls. Three weeks earlier, Augie's wife passed away, and he has yet been unable to tell the children. (His wife is played, in a single photograph, by Margot Robbie, although Robbie has one more scene as the actress cast as the wife.)

Also participating in the contest is Dinah (Grace Edwards), whose mother is a movie star, Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson). Midge and Augie are occupying adjacent cabins, and begin to converse with each other through the windows, with Augie even helping Midge rehearse. They seem to bond over their mutual sadnesses, their losses, and the things they may have missed out upon. Augie and Stanley also take some time to hash out their feelings toward one another; Stanley never approved of Augie, but understood that his daughter loved him nonetheless.

Oh, and the other thing that happens is during the festival, as patrons are watching a celestial event, an alien lands and scoops up the town's signature asteroid. (The puppet alien descends on a long, pole-like elevator that stops inches from the ground, where a tiny tripod flips down and settles things in place.) The alien's appearance necessitates a quarantine in the town, as government agents swoop in with protective gear and measuring devices, while all the characters are cooped up together, tempers fraying, and questions flying about the alien and the nature of our existence in the universe.

Meanwhile, there are so many moments that just seem to float by, having nothing to do with anything, but of course, carrying some kind of weight. This may be the first Anderson film since Rushmore that slows down sometimes so that we can ponder existence. More so than any other film I've seen in recent memory, I wished I had a pause button so I could make it move even slower, and so I could just revel in the scenery. Schwartzman, Johansson, and Hanks provide a welcome gravity that adorns Anderson's best films like Rushmore and The Grand Budapest Hotel. This is Hanks's first film with Anderson, and he offers the kind of looseness that Bill Murray brought to nearly every other Anderson film. (Murray is absent for the first time since Bottle Rocket).

Other cast members include Jeffrey Wright as a general, Tilda Swinton as a scientist, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, and Stephen Park as parents of other child geniuses, Maya Hawke as a teacher with a gaggle of young kids in tow, Rupert Friend as a singing cowboy, Steve Carell as the motel manager, Matt Dillon as the gas station man and auto mechanic (with a very funny moment), Edward Norton as the genius playwright (with a soft Southern accent), Adrien Brody as the play's director, Hong Chau as his ex-wife (who offers him a poignant note), Willem Dafoe as an acting teacher, and Jeff Goldblum in one shot wearing an alien suit (because… who better?). Fisher Stevens, Bob Balaban, and Sophia Lillis also appear. What can I say? I'll be looking forward to visiting them all again.