JASON EVANS' 100-WORD REVIEWS: Asteroid City

 More Wes Anderson Magic

Film critic Jason Evans has made it his mission to tell you everything you need to know about movies in less time than it takes an alien to steal a rock. His reviews are exactly 100 words long (99 would be too short, but 101 is just excessive). Here is his 100-word review of Asteroid City.

The Premise – Whew… where to start. A movie about a TV show about the making of a play. A narrator/host (Bryan Cranston) introduces us to a TV movie about the production of a play by a famed playwright (Edward Norton). The play is about a group of teens and their parents who are visiting the remote desert town of Asteroid City back in the 1950s. The teens are science geniuses who are being awarded prizes by the U.S. military. Through a series of unlikely events, everyone is quarantined in the tiny town and must figure out how to live with each other for several days. The film is written and directed by auteur Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Grand Budapest Hotel) and features an absurdly talented cast that includes Jason Schwartzman, Scarlet Johansson, Tom Hanks, Steve Carrell, Adrien Brody, Matt Dillon, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Liev Schrieber, and many more recognizable faces.

The 100 words – Anderson’s quirky, enigmatic style is on full display in this funny and touching film. Each scene is a work of art, full of arresting imagery and revealing camera movement. The intentionally stilted dialogue makes it hard to connect with the characters, but there’s enough going on with story to hold your attention. The jaw-dropping cast know they are here for brief moments, not to be the center of attention, and they are all outstanding. I know some find Anderson a bit too art house and strange, but the sci-fi doses may help this work for a wider than usual audience. 

Reach out to Jason Evans on Twitter @JasonDukeEvans

Comments