The French Dispatch (2021) | Wes Anderson

Went to my local cinema and saw this yesterday, and boy am I conflicted. I really enjoy Wes Anderson, and there is absolutely no doubt that this is one of his most beautiful and detailed films. It may actually be his most visually striking effort to date. There are shots in this that are just breathtakingly gorgeous and framed and lit with so much care and love. Anderson's passion here is not up for debate. It's honestly a technical marvel how he's managed to expand his visual style into frames that capture much larger areas and, in this case, cityscapes.

However, I have to admit that I found it a bit overwhelming. I can't help but feel I was not equipped to come close to gathering what I needed to in order to feed my full appreciation. Perhaps that's the goal here: Multiple viewings are absolutely necessary, but I just found myself struggling to keep up with the narrative and what was going on with this character versus that character from one frenetic minute to the next.

I also feel like character development was a bit lacking here. There definitely is development, but it is just fiercely quick, and before you get a chance to process much of anything, you are thrown into another world that you also need to absorb, and this keeps happening throughout the run-time. I just never caught my breath so it inevitably came off tedious for me.

The story here is engrossing and interesting and perfectly within Wes Anderson's wheelhouse, but I almost wonder if a limited series would have allowed this to breathe more. Well, I don't wonder. I know it would have. I needed more time with this story and these characters. At 1 hr and 48 min, I could easily see that doubled and broken into three or four parts. Still, I will eventually own this, and I know a couple more viewings will be valuable. IMDb: 7.5/10, my score: 7.5/10