Movie Review: Asteroid City

Some of us absolutely adore Wes Anderson movies for their detailed set-designs, twee sensibilities, wry observations, and blending of sardonic humor with deep pathos. Others among us can find his films off-putting, thinking he overemphasizes style and often asks for sterile and aloof performances from his cast. I can concede that there may be some validity to those complaints but am still very much in the first camp. Being perhaps one of the most “Wes Anderson-y” of the director’s works yet, Asteroid City isn’t going to do much to persuade any of his critics to convert, but as a fan it had me delighted from start to finish.

The movie begins with the host of an old black and white TV show (Byran Cranston) introducing a televised production of the play Asteroid City, which is to include rare insights into the creation of the work along the way. These include different scenes of playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton) and director Schubert Green (Adrien Brody) as they endeavor to mount the production, deal with personal dilemmas, and sort out what it all means to them, while meeting various members of the future cast along the way.

The play itself appears in color and takes place in the titular desert town during the 1950s. It is so named because of the large crater that holds a tiny meteorite and draws visitors to the area, though aside from that and the science facility adjacent to it, Asteroid City only contains a dinette, a garage, a misplaced highway onramp to nowhere, and a small motel comprised of individual cabins. Once a year, the research center and the US military host a Junior Stargazer convention, in which awards are given to children who’ve invented the best machines, for which the families are beginning to arrive just as the play begins.

War photographer Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman) is first into town, arriving via tow truck with his children Woodrow (Jake Ryan), Andromeda (Ella Faris), Pandora (Gracie Faris), and Cassiopeia (Willan Faris). They are deposited along with their car at the garage where the mechanic (Matt Dillon) informs them that their vehicle is likely done for. Augie realizes that they are already in the town where Woodrow’s convention is being held and so calls his father-in-law Stanley Zak (Tom Hanks) to come and pick up the triplets, where it is revealed that they are all going to be living with Stanley following the recent passing of Augie’s wife (Margot Robbie), a reality that the kids have not yet been made aware of.

The rest of the Junior Stargazers arrive, including actress Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson) and her daughter Dinah (Grace Edwards), J.J. Kellogg (Liev Schreiber) and his son Clifford (Aristou Meehan), Sandy Borden (Hope Davis) and her daughter Shelly (Sophia Lillis), Roger Cho (Stephen Park) and his son Ricky (Ethan Josh Lee), and a busload of students on a trip with their teacher June Douglas (Maya Hawke). The convention gets under way and the class receives a tour of the observatory led by Dr. Hickenlooper (Tilda Swinton) followed by the awards ceremony inside the crater, led by General Gibson (Jeffrey Wright). Unfortunately, before the grand prize can be given out, a spacecraft appears overhead and a single alien descends to retrieve the meteorite and disappear back into the sky, leading to everyone being quarantined in the town until the government can decide what to do.

The unique structure of the story means that the lines between this universe’s truth and fiction are often blurred, as situations explained in the behind-the-scenes moments seem to impact the performances and discussions taking place within the play. The very large (seriously, I haven’t even mentioned everyone) and very talented cast are all game to play in Anderson’s world, which isn’t surprising given that it is mostly populated with his growing roster of regulars. As usual the environments are strikingly pretty, but it’s also nice to see the unique way that he handles the science fiction moments. The alien itself is particularly charming, especially when you realize that it’s supposed to look like a costume in a play. There are plenty of laugh-worthy absurdist moments interspersed with expressions of deep pain and high-minded thoughts about the very nature of the universe and the meaning of life, all adding up to 1 hour and 45 minutes of cinematic joy that fans won’t soon forget. ★★★★★