The French Dispatch

Scott Hardie: “It was ok.”

This has to be the most Wes Andersonny film that Wes Anderson has ever Wes Andersoned. It takes his idiosyncratic obsessions and directorial style to a whole new level that didn't seem possible, and indeed, it's hard to imagine how much further he could push them than he does here. I recently watched a breakdown of his style, and in the case of The French Dispatch, it's so meticulous that background extras blink in time with each scene's rhythm. This film is the product of a director gone deep, deep, deep inside his own style, I would argue to the exclusion of the audience; I can imagine Wes Anderson changing not one single thing about the film if you informed him during production that zero people would ever see it. Whether you like it will depend on your tolerance for Wes Anderson; me, I've generally found his style amusing and charming but also occasionally an interference to an emotional connection with the viewer, and in this case I'm afraid it's (much) more of the same. This is really a framing story connecting three short films of varying intensity and impact, and I was unmoved by any of the four of them, though at least I found the extreme expression of Wes Anderson's style fascinating in its own way.

− September 10, 2023 • more by Scott • log in or register to reply