![]() ![]() Considering how many extraterrestrials we’ve seen in movies, the fact that Anderson came up with something original is impressive. The other element that elevates the rating is the design of the alien itself. Goldblum’s cameo is the rare joke that works. Robbie’s scene is the best in the film, a moment when dialogue, image, and meaning sync up for maximum effect. The first is the characters played by Margot Robbie and Jeff Goldblum, neither of whom I’ll identify here. Two elements prevented me from assigning “Asteroid City” a no-star rating. The plot became so convoluted that I stopped caring, opting instead to pray for the end of the film or the apocalypse, whichever came first. Several cast members, including Johansson and Steve Park, appear in dual roles as the actor and the part they are playing. Meanwhile, back in the “real world,” Schwartzman is also playing Jones Hall, the actor who plays Steenbeck. Almost everyone sounds like robots it’s a chore to listen to this film. The actors are framed in the square area to look like puppets in a Punch and Judy show, and their dialogue is delivered in dull monotones that make them sound like robots in a 1950s science-fiction movie. Steenbeck and Campbell embark on a romantic relationship, most of which is depicted by Schwartzman and ScarJo chatting from their respective motel windows. Because of a recent fire, one of the rooms is actually a tent. The main set is a motel run by Steve Carell in a role originally intended for Anderson stalwart Bill Murray. Steenbeck is in town to watch his genius son, Woodrow (Jake Ryan), participate in a young adult science fair where multiple inventions will be judged.īeing a play, much of the action takes place in few locations. This isn’t a spoiler - the alien’s mentioned in the trailer.Įarp’s main characters are newly widowed war photographer Augie Steenbeck (Anderson regular Jason Schwartzman) and Hollywood actress Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson). Jeffrey Wright plays General Grif Gibson, the military man overseeing the festivities.Įvery so often, a nuclear bomb test goes off, filling the background with those dopey-looking mushroom clouds Anderson used before in “Isle of Dogs.” (I hope Christopher Nolan borrows this effect for “Oppenheimer.”) With its military presence and desert locale, Asteroid City evokes Area 51. The asteroid is also available for viewing at the Space Camp-style event taking place in town. The near-ghost town is named for its most famous attraction, the crater made by an asteroid. The second plane of existence involves the enactment of Earp’s play, “Asteroid City,” shot in widescreen and in color. ![]() Let’s call this the “real world” section.īryan Cranston in Wes Anderson's "Asteroid City." Pop. It’s a three-act play written by Conrad Earp (Edward Norton), whom we see working on the material in September 1955. In a faux-documentary style narration, he immediately tells us Asteroid City isn’t real. The first, shot in the Academy ratio and black and white, is inhabited by The Host (Bryan Cranston). “Asteroid City” takes place on two planes of existence. (When a guy who grew up in 1970s-era New Jersey tells you the colors are overwhelmingly garish, believe him.) ![]() Shot in Spain like Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns, it is set in a desert locale complete with a stop-motion roadrunner that goes “meep-meep!” Anderson works with a palette of super-bright colors - and the result looks like a drunk, pastel-colored rainbow exploded all over the screen. 87 Productions/Focus Featuresīy comparison, “Asteroid City” is eye-scorching to the point of being unwatchable whenever it depicts the scenes in color that make up most of the film. From left: Liev Schreiber, Steve Carell, Stephen Park, and Hope Davis in writer-director Wes Anderson's "Asteroid City." Pop. ![]()
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