Curated artifice. That’s what I think about when I picture Wes Anderson. He uses nostalgia for mid-American century aesthetics, one of a world that the United States told itself and portrayed in its media of suburbia and of the Hollywood creations at the time into the cinematic objects. His films, especially of late, are not representations of that time and place but of the things made and the stories told during those times. Asteroid City is probably the most distilled of this form he’s been doing. Here is a story within a story. Asteroid City is the play being performed on television back when it was all in Black and White about Youth Astronomy Convention and contest in a town called Asteroid City. Here we are introduced to the actors playing the characters in the play and when we are seeing the story in the play. The bulk of the film is the play’s story, which we see in this wonder widescreen technicolor expanse on the screen. Jason Schwartzman is on screen as Augie Steenbeck, a war photographer with his children after his wife passed away recently. His son Woodrow (Jake Ryan) is there to compete in the science experiment contest. Once there, we start meeting loads and loads of characters, each with different dynamics between the parents and the teens, along with the people who work in Asteroid City.
This cast is so huge; this feels like the most extensive collection of actors I’ve seen in a Wes Anderson film. I’m not going to try and tell you who is the best but just know that all the actors clearly love working with Anderson as all the performances are excellent. I’m still surprised Tom Hanks is in a Wes Anderson film with all the quirks that take you back to when he did stuff like The Burbs and Money Pit. The costuming, hair, and makeup help create a manufactured world work just as much as all the productions design. Each shot is crisp with stark color and precise edges like that from old television shows or older films. The shift from color to black/white fits perfectly the change in mood of the story as it goes from the play to the “real world” of those putting on the play or the backstory of it all. Scarlett Johansson looks great in this film and has good chemistry with Schwartzman. In the end, the teen actors steal many of the scenes they are in as they push the film.
The story is about loss and grief and weaves it through the play and through the side story of creating an artistic work. The film hits a nice spot of the metanarrative with Anderson, the films he makes, and the people he works with to bring these things to life. It feels like this film’s most personal and adventurous of his recent output. Asteroid City is one of the year’s favorites so far and will definitely be discussed later during awards conversation and end-of-year lists.
Score: A
