The French Dispatch

Wes Anderson has made many films people have loved as well as many films people are baffled by and don't understand nor like. This isn't a complaint...it just IS what Anderson's films are like to the average viewer. However, some of his movies are clearly much more approachable than others. "The French Dispatch" is NOT one of the more approachable films...it clearly will appeal mostly to the hard-core Anderson freaks.

The film is broken down in to several stories that are interconnected by the same narrator. The first, about an insane modern artists and the sycophants who love his art--despite his multiple beheadings...which have gotten him locked up in a psychiatric prison. I think this is a very funny and insightful look at pretentious art lovers. The other stories also involve pretentious people but to me seem to have little in the way of payoff. The young revolutionary bit is mildly amusing and pokes fun of the 1960s young peoples' revolution in Paris and the kidnapping bit really left me cold.

The bottom line is that all the stories are surreal and just plain weird.... and I assume most people will like some and hate other portions of the film. So, I am not a fan of the story overall. But I was blown away by the cinematography, artisic sets and strange look of the film...this is probably THE reason to see the movie...not the plot itself. A great example is the scene showing the transition from a young demented artist to an older one...which was very clever. Overall, a film I didn't particularly like but I definitely respected.