Anderson’s Craft And Heart Soar In Asteroid City

Asteroid City grabbed me from the first moment. We’re starting in a black and white TV-style special, breaking down how a play (in this case Asteroid City) is made. Asteroid City is a play within the film. We start at its conception (Edward Norton, alone at a typewriter) with Brian Cranston’s Serling-esque narration. Eventually the film peels out from black and white 4:3 to a technicolor full screen — brimming with miniatures and color. 

Fairly early on in Asteroid City we are introduced to the cast, visiting Asteroid City (the place) as part of a military sanctioned science fair of sorts. Our cast is led by Jason Schwartzman playing Augie Steenbeck, a war photographer, with four kids in tow. The oldest, Woodrow, is one of the honorees at the Asteroid City event. 

Within the first fifteen minutes we learn that this is a film about loss. Many Anderson films cover the topic but this is perhaps the most direct. Mrs. Steenbeck has died a few weeks ago and the kids are just now learning about it.  Augie is listless and of course the kids are somewhat shell shocked. The rest of the cast filters in. We move back and forth between the full color world of the play and the black and white behind the scenes world.

This movie nailed it in the casting department.

Matt Dillon is charming as the mechanic of Asteroid City. Steve Carrell kills it as the owner of the Asteroid City Motel. He has vending machines for everything his customers might need. Tom Hanks delivers. The other kids and their families are delightfully unhinged. Scarlett Johannsen as Midge Campbell understands the tone and the role exactly. The other children create an awkward yet believable tone. Before long we realize many of these characters have actor analogs in the behind the scenes special part of the film. Each of them get additional moments to shine through these performances. I could go on and on. 

At the end of the day Asteroid City may be the movie with the most Anderson-isms — the dialog is stunted at times, there’s a lot of pithy camera movement, actors talk monotone until they don’t. I would also argue it is perhaps the Anderson film with the most obvious heart. It is about looking for connection after the loss of a parent, wife or daughter. It hits all of those beats. A time comes when people are unable to leave Asteroid City and we learn how perfectly friendly dynamics can change in the right circumstances. It gets weird and messy but in a very human way.

The film works within several style profiles at once, creating a visually lush film. There are miniatures practically bursting the seams of this movie. The black and white segments are plush and full and the color sections have an aesthetic that really sticks. It makes the night sky feel so full of stars. And maybe it is.

I give Asteroid City (Focus Features; PG-13; 1 hr 44 mins) a 4.5 out of 5.

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