The Starlight Journal

Sometimes I feel like a bit of a fraud calling myself a “movie guy” without being super well-versed in Wes Anderson’s movies. It’s not due to any disinterest in his films or dislike of his particular style, I just simply haven’t taken the time to watch most of his filmography. The one film of his I have seen – 2018’s Isle of Dogs – I really enjoyed, albeit haven’t taken the time to revisit since my first viewing, and the majority of his movies I have wanted to see, just have not gotten around to doing so just yet. Asteroid City, however, intrigued me from its premise and trailers. A sci-fi drama set in a futuristic 1950s setting, taking place in a small desert town, and the Anderson staple of a star-studded ensemble of actors occupying the screen at all times. I was intrigued by the cast alone, but the concept of Anderson handling an homage to 1950s B-movies and extraterrestrial stories was enough to get me hooked and become one of my most anticipated of the year.

The film is told in two formats – the story of the movie itself as formed as a play, shot in widescreen and filled with bright, pastel colors aplenty, while also showing “behind the scenes” interludes hosted by Bryan Cranston showing the creation of said play, these in letterboxed format and in black and white. Here we get to see many members of this ensemble playing multiple roles (for example, Jason Schwartzman plays the lead in the play Augie Steenback, as well as the actor portraying him), leading to many layered, multifaceted performances throughout. The story of the play itself is presented, quite literally, in a three-act structure, with title cards marking scene changes and the beginning of new acts as the story progresses. The beginnings of this meta-textured storytelling is honestly quite jarring, the transitions between narratives are often abrupt and hard to follow, once you get a hold on how we’re learning about this play and its cast of characters it moves smoother, but it may take you aback at the rather unique way it chooses to tell this alien-invasion meets blossoming romantic-comedy story. 

As it’s a Wes Anderson film, the film features a who’s who of Hollywood’s best actors and actresses, and of course they are all excellent here. From Jason Schwartzman (who’s having quite the year with this and Spider-Verse), Tom Hanks, Steve Carell, Tilda Swinton, Maya Hawke, everyone is excellent here. Even huge names like Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie, and Edward Norton have bit parts that shine in their brief moments of screentime, and I’d expect nothing less from a movie from a director like Anderson. I may not be as familiar with his movies as other film buffs, but I know his screenplays and ensemble performances are what set him apart from his auteur peers, and it’s all on full display here, even in moments where the quality of the movie itself can’t keep up with the amount of talent on-screen.

The highlight here though is Scarlett Johansson. Playing a famous actress who slowly begins to fall in love with Schwartzman’s character, she gives an absolute superstar performance and is the MVP of the whole film. Along with Glenn Howerton in BlackBerry and Florence Pugh in A Good Person, she gives one of my favorite performances of the entire year.

The variety of characters in the ensemble are brought to the titular desert town as a part of an astronomy convention, where the children of many of the cast (including Schwartzman and Johansson) are being awarded for their various scientific inventions. An extraterrestrial encounter occurs during the ceremony, which leads to the group being quarantined as many of their outlooks on life and the universe are now questioned as they stared right into the eyes of an alien. What I loved about how the “play” is presented is its cinematography and homages to the era. The bright pastel colors enhance it not only being a play but also fill the screen with a retro, nostalgic feeling, poking fun at the downright ridiculous concepts in the somewhat futuristic town (a special shoutout to a scene involving a vending machine that dispenses real estate, which had me howling in the theater). Any sci-fi elements of the story are purposefully portrayed as hokey visually, adding the perfect B-movie flavor that honestly would’ve worked better for this story than a high-budgeted CGI-fest you may have seen in a less tongue-in-cheek narrative. The film also does a good job at conveying what is the “play” and what is “the making of the play”, especially during occasional moments when the two narratives overlap with each other. Balancing dramatic performances with sharp and witty comedic moments.

As mentioned before, the story is told in 3 acts split together, and from Act 2 onwards I really, really enjoyed the movie. Everything started to click at that point, both stories told had more focus and depth to them, and of course the performances were on another level. The minute the science-fiction aspects of the plot begin to amp up, to no surprise my enjoyment of the movie did as well. If the entire movie was hitting on all cylinders like the final hour of the film was, this would’ve been a surefire entry in my best of the year list as we look towards the last half of 2023.

However, the film’s first act is what brings this movie from a great one to a good movie that I wish I could connect with more. I simply could not get into anything that the movie was trying to do during the first half hour or so of its runtime. Anytime I started to connect with the characters, the film would switch to the other ongoing story. After following mainly just Schwartzman for the beginning of the film, so many characters were introduced at once that it became hard to follow along and connect with what was going on, and the later wit of the screenplay wasn’t registering right away, as if they were building a puzzle that could not be completed. The play’s scenes are split up into title cards, and that’s just what the 1st act felt like: a collection of scenes. It felt like nothing was really happening, the stories weren’t connecting, and we were just seeing a collection of well-acted, well shot scenes with not much substance or intrigue to them. Thankfully, near the end of the first act, everything began to work and I soon changed my tune, but I spent the 1st half hour of the movie feeling a mixture of confusion and disappointment, waiting for the movie to hopefully turn things around.

I assume a portion of your enjoyment of Asteroid City depends on your enjoyment of Wes Anderson’s work. If you love his films, I’m sure this will be no exception, though if you’re a relative Anderson novice like myself, I’m not sure if this is the film that would change your opinion on his films. I have seen Anderson superfans declare this to be both one of his best and one of his worst, so I’m not sure of the answer there myself. This is by no means a bad movie, in fact it’s a really good, and wonderfully made, one at that. I just hoped to absolutely love this movie, but an uneven first act torpedoed what would’ve been a year-end best into just a perfectly good movie that didn’t reach my lofty expectations.

The Starlight Journal is a new project of mine I’ve been wanting to get off the ground for a long time now. Stay tuned soon for my June Film Journal, as well as blogs surrounding the Best of the Half-Year! If you are interested in reading more of my thoughts on movies, I journal every movie I watch on my Twitter and Letterboxd accounts and would love it if you’d join the fun.