Wes Anderson’s ‘The French Dispatch’ Hailed as ‘Relentlessly Wonderful’ and as ‘Playful as They Come’
It should be no surprise that Wes Anderson’s latest film “The French Dispatch” — delayed when last year’s Cannes Film Festival was canceled — is as colorful, fun, hilarious, peculiar and all around Wes Andersonny as any of his films, critics say.
The early reviews of Anderson’s latest called the film “relentlessly wonderful” and as “playful as they come.” TheWrap’s Steve Pond has called it the “ultimate” Wes Anderson movie, packing more of his influences and sensibilities — not to mention nearly every cast member who has ever been in one of his movies — into one film.
“It’s an Anderson Sampler Pack, each candied treat more elaborately wrapped and intricately decorated than the last,” Pond wrote. “It’s fun and it’s impossibly stylish and it’s absolutely exhausting, and it might make you start musing about the law of diminishing returns. But boy, it sure looks pretty.”
“The French Dispatch” is an episodic film from Anderson, a collection of five stories within the film that flit back and forth from black and white to color, all of which are interconnected as the stories of a New Yorker-style magazine in France in the ’70s, with Bill Murray as its editor.
Critics described it as among Anderson’s most detail-oriented films, with impeccable, painterly shots throughout. One critic even said that the film could have also worked as a series of web shorts that he would have been glad to watch for hours on end.
“#TheFrenchDispatch is the most Wes Anderson movie to ever Wes Anderson. It packs about 10 different movies in just 2 hours, each segment crazier and more imaginative than the last. For a brief moment it goes animated like a Tin Tin comic strip and I almost cried,” critic Rafael Motamayor wrote on Twitter.
“The French Dispatch” from Searchlight Pictures will open in theaters on July 24. See more reactions to the film, as well as some Timothee Chalamet cuteness on the red carpet, below:
Wes Anderson, Tilda Swinton, and Timothee Chalamet entering the starry Cannes premiere of THE FRENCH DISPATCH pic.twitter.com/LqUXMvlphk
— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) July 12, 2021
Wes Anderson is back with one of his best films to date – and surely also his fastest. On the relentlessly (and I do mean relentlessly) wonderful The French Dispatch: https://t.co/I08xdl0Gxv #Cannes2021
— Robbie Collin (@robbiereviews) July 12, 2021
THE FRENCH DISPATCH: Nice little homage to journalism, & French culture. A chaotic burst of madcap energy. Short stories shot in glorious retro black & white. Every frame felt like a painting. In fact, maybe Wes Anderson’s most detail-oriented film, and that’s saying something.
— Jordan Ruimy (@mrRuimy) July 12, 2021
The French Dispatch is an overwhelming visual feast even for Wes Anderson. Del Toro, McDormand and Wright are stand outs. I’m a big fan. #Cannes
— Gregory Ellwood – CANNES – The Playlist (@TheGregoryE) July 12, 2021
Unsurprisingly The French Dispatch is very good! Much more Grand Budapest than Tenenbaums, with even more characters (and stars) and storylines. Playful as they come. If you like Wes, you’ll like this.
— Adam Solomons (@adamsolomons5) July 12, 2021
#TheFrenchDispatch is the most Wes Anderson movie to ever Wes Anderson. It packs about 10 different movies in just 2 hours, each segment crazier and more imaginative than the last. For a brief moment it goes animated like a Tin Tin comic strip and I almost cried. #Cannes2021
— Rafael Motamayor @ Cannes (@RafaelMotamayor) July 12, 2021
THE FRENCH DISPATCH: colourful, warm, engaging and inventive even by Wes' standards. A briefly bookended triptych of stories that rely on the dedication and penmanship of great journalism. Yes, Chalamet is very good; so is Swinton, Wright, McDormand and Del Toro. #Cannes2021
— douglas greenwood (@douglasgrnwd) July 12, 2021
THE FRENCH DISPATCH: a delectable tribute to journalism. packs so many intricate and eccentric details into the milieu of ennui-sur-blasé that it’s almost overwhelming (not in a bad way). it’s a wes anderson film – of course it’s fantastic #cannes2021
— iana murray (@ianamurray) July 12, 2021
Enjoyable in a very funky, clunky way. There's almost too much to process in one sitting, I need the text version to go along with all the footage. Stories within stories & endless characters of all kinds, appearing briefly. Could've watched hours of this, almost as a web series.
— Alex Billington @ Cannes 2021 (@firstshowing) July 12, 2021
#RedSteps THE FRENCH DISPATCH by Wes ANDERSON#Cannes2021 #Competition pic.twitter.com/WnDRPpqjYw
— Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) July 12, 2021
