The French Dispatch
Wes Anderson’s 10th Feature Film Goes Full Francophile and Delivers a Tour de Force With His New On-screen Newspaper Film The French Dispatch.
Bill Murray is the ultimate actor for Wes Anderson, check the track record for them two.
Face it, you either love Wes Anderson’s films or you don’t like them at all, but trust me, he’s aware of it! Wes even went as far to address how he found his audience when he released his first film. Wes said that it hurt watching people walk out of the theater during the viewing of his first film, but one girl stayed until the end and clapped for the film. That was a glorious day for him because he found his audience. On October 22, 2021, his tenth film The French Dispatch was released, a love letter anthology film to journalist and writers alike based on ever famous magazine, The New Yorker. Due to this film being heavily descriptive, I’ll give it my best shot at writing this review much like one of the Journalist in The French Dispatch.
Bonjour, C’est la vie!
My face was flushed with bliss as I became aware that the long-awaited, French Dispatch, was to be released in select theaters. Select theaters to me is what solitude is to introverts, a chance to view a movie around those who respect the quietness and dodging the quarrels of maybe sitting next to the “first date” pairs who may show up, overtly aroused. From the moment the film began rolling, I recalled the same feeling I felt watching The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and The Royal Tenenbaums, the feeling of “What will it be this time, Wes?” like a bartender who sees his regular customer and is aware of his poison but still ask the infamous question “What will it be?”. The artwork, the visually pleasing sets, the models made to look like real locations, and of course, that dialogue he is so particular with. Always familiar faces with actors like Bill Murrary, Adrien Brody (Queens, NYC Legend, youngest to ever win Oscar for best actor), Owen Wilson (Wow), Frances McDormand, Willem Dafoe (Green Goblin), also the new heavy hitters like Benicio Del Toro and Timothee Chalamet. With an all-star cast, we’re thrown right into The French Dispatch and its editor, Arthur Howitzer Jr., who has assembled the greatest writers of his generation and staffed them in France to write his magazine.
Adrien Brody front and center as usual.
Cinematically, we flip through the chapters of a freshly printed book and it’s four tales on the encounters of the writers. First, the cycling reporter who gives us a whiff of what it’s like to live as a local in Ennui, France, a fictional place. The second tale is almost like the modern story of Charles Bronson (Charles Salvador) the criminal who found art while serving almost 40 years now in prison and became famous for not only his notorious strength but his art too. The story follows almost the same story, just involves an art dealer in jail trying to promote the art. The third tale follows the student protest that broke out in the streets or Ennui and how two students rage against the system and fall in love. The Fourth is the walk down memory lane with one of the writers recounting his private dinner with the police commissioner or Ennui and how his son was kidnapped and held for ransom by criminals.
Not your average film, as you know Wes Anderson loves to present his films to us like no other director would attempt. If you don’t admire his work and his style of film, this isn’t for you because this is the most Wes Anderson film to date. Even in silence with just close captions you’d enjoy the movie as it is just as visually entertaining. You’d pair this movie with a fancy French meal such as Boeuf bourguignon followed up with a French 75 to rinse the palette just before devouring a crème brulee. And yes, this is mentioned because Wes Anderson continues to glorify and display beautiful food.
The movie creates a desire for you to go pick up the last copy of The French Dispatch but sadly, the magazine isn’t real. Your best bet is going to purchase the latest copy of The New Yorker to find writing so entertaining and bizarre or dare I say, right here on this website? For us Wes’s film lovers, the movie is a solid 8/10, but if this is your first time seeing his movies, you may rate it as low as a 5/10. It’s up to you but remember love it or like it, no crying.
