The French Dispatch
Set in the fictional town of Ennui-sur-Blasé ‘The French Dispatch’ . . . is a sister publication of ‘The Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun’. The opening segment sets the tone for the rest of duration. Bill Murray plays Arthur Howitzer Jr – an old-school editor with useful journalistic advice – ‘Just try to make it sound like you wrote it that way on purpose’.
This Wes Anderson project flirts with the real world, engaging with politics, sex and even violence. The supporting cast do the usual ‘Wes Anderson’ acting particularly Tilda Swinton. Which is fine . . . there’s so much dialogue it’s hard to follow what’s going on. It has a cast to die for . . . Benicio Del Toro, Léa Seydoux, Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson, Frances McDormand, Ed Norton, Timothée Chalamet, Jeffrey Wright, Elisabeth Moss and Willem Dafoe to name a few . . .
There’s a kidnap plot, gangsters, dodgy accountants, riots . . . it’s complicated but fun. The French Dispatch also features an animated car-chase that was more interesting than the rest of the film. It’s so designed – within an inch of its life . . . but it really lacks a decent cohesive story, which makes it a bit dull. One for fans.
The film has just been released and is available pretty much everywhere.
