The French Dispatch

The French Dispatch

The staff of an American magazine based in France puts out its last issue, with stories featuring an artist sentenced to life imprisonment, student riots, and a kidnapping resolved by a chef.

  • Released: 2021-10-21
  • Runtime: 108 minutes
  • Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
  • Stars: Bill Murray, Benicio del Toro, Frances McDormand, Jeffrey Wright, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson, Timothée Chalamet, Léa Seydoux, Mathieu Amalric, Lyna Khoudri, Steve Park, Liev Schreiber, Elisabeth Moss, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Lois Smith, Saoirse Ronan, Christoph Waltz, Cécile de France, Guillaume Gallienne, Jason Schwartzman, Tony Revolori, Rupert Friend, Henry Winkler, Bob Balaban, Hippolyte Girardot, Anjelica Huston, Denis Ménochet, Alex Lawther, Vincent Lacoste, Benjamin Lavernhe, Vincent Macaigne, Félix Moati, Wallace Wolodarsky, Fisher Stevens, Griffin Dunne, Stéphane Bak, Anjelica Bette Fellini, Lily Taïeb, Mohamed Belhadjine, Nicolas Avinée, Winsen Ait Hellal, Toheeb Jimoh, Larry Pine, Tom Hudson, Jarvis Cocker, Bruno Delbonnel, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, Damien Bonnard, Morgane Polanski, Antonia Desplat, Sam Haygarth, Pablo Pauly
  • Director: Wes Anderson
 Comments
  • gettodamoofies - 21 April 2024
    "Perhaps the doubtful old maxim speaks true: All grand beauties withhold their deepest secrets."
    FILM: 7.0 The French Dispatch rustled up some mixed feelings in me. This Wes Anderson adventure is definitely an interesting, if occasionally frustrating film.

    Let's start with the positives. Anderson is known for creating quirky and captivating characters, and The French Dispatch is no exception. From eccentric journalists to larger-than-life editors, the cast is full of memorable personalities that keep you engaged from start to finish. Performances are uniformly excellent, with each cast member bringing Anderson's unique characterisation to life.

    Visually, the film is a treat. The juxtaposition of black and white flashbacks with bursts of colour in the present day scenes creates a dynamic visual style that's both unique and engaging. And of course, Anderson's signature whimsical touch is present throughout, adding a layer of charm to the proceedings.

    However, where The French Dispatch falls short is in its storytelling approach. The film is divided into three vignettes, each focusing on a different aspect of journalism. While this allows for some interesting exploration of the subject matter, it also means that some characters and storylines feel underdeveloped. It's clear that Anderson is more interested in the minutiae of his world than in telling a cohesive narrative, and this can be frustrating at times. One wonders whether this story may have been better served by several films or a limited event series.

    Overall, The French Dispatch is an intriguing film that's worth a watch for fans of Wes Anderson's unique style. While it may not be his strongest effort, it's still a visually stunning and thematically rich experience that's sure to leave you thinking. So, if you're in the mood for something a little offbeat, give it a shot. You might just find yourself charmed by its quirks.

    FORMAT: Blu-ray

    VIDEO: 9.0 1080/24p streaming presentation Detail level: Excellent Colour reproduction: Excellent Level accuracy: Good Encode: Good Master condition: Excellent

    AUDIO: 8.5 DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio Dialogue reproduction: Excellent Soundtrack & effects clarity: Excellent Dynamics: Good Surround sound presentation: Good LFE content: Good

    MOOFIEMETER: 7.0.
  • wrigco - 29 September 2023
    could not finish
    I did not enjoy this movie. It started off promisingly and I got quite engrossed in the first story even though I am not a fan of Adrian Brody. I thought it was a great satire on "modern" art and the filthy rich snobs who patronise these sorts of art galleries. On reflection, it was good that it ended when it did, before it lost traction.

    From there it just went down. I starting losing attention in the second story and by third it had lost me completely and I gave up. The monotonous narration was really starting to grate and I also found it boring.

    I loved The Royal Tennebaums and Grand Budapest Hotel, this was nothing like those.
  • NateWatchesCoolMovies - 30 July 2023
    Trademark Anderson
    Wes Anderson does anthology in The French Dispatch, a recent effort that features all of his intensely idiosyncratic trademarks out in full force: massive ensemble cast, impenetrable sense of whimsy, crisply symmetrical cinematography, profoundly glib dialogue and a dense narrative that doesn't have time to play catch-up with it's audience. This one worked for me, because the framing device used for narrative is a fairly accessible one, at least as far as Anderson goes: Bill Murray plays the owner and editor of a newspaper, and various others play his esteemed and much loved writers, each segment of the film is a quirky human interest column with historical significances brought to vivid life, sometimes in patented bright colours and other times in Black and White which, correct me if I'm wrong, is a new foray for this filmmaker. Owen Wilson plays a travelogue correspondent who likes to explore the seedier sides of town on his bike, Frances McDormand observes the college age youth bickering and protesting over issues great and small, Liev Schreiber a TV host interviewing Jeffrey Wright on his philosophical experiences in the culinary world. Some of the sequences land, and others not so much but one in particular is a phenomenally beautiful piece of storytelling and may well be the best singular thing Anderson has ever done. In it Benicio Del Toro plays an incarcerated artist with severe social dysfunction whose work is noticed by a high strung art world bigwig (Adrien Brody). Lea Seydoux and her impossible figure plays the prison guard who acts as model, muse, lover and life coach to this difficult man, the dynamic between her and Del Toro is something truly special in terms of chemistry, writing and emotional significance. This story has something challenging yet profound to say about art, despair, love and lives fulfilled, it's a spectacular interlude within a well done overall cinematic tapestry of short stories.
  • PaschalisG16 - 23 November 2022
    Severely underrated and underappreciated
    As many users have stated already, this film is stunning technically. The cinematography and use of music is incredible. It's heavily Inspired by french cinema, and of course it's a tribute of it.

    But I see a lot of reviews with negative criticism on the plot and pacing.

    Although it's difficult to follow, due to a lot of seemingly unimportant things happening in very short time, The French Dispatch growed on me after the 2nd and 3rd viewings especially after the third time.

    The writing of this film is sadly underestimated, there's so many layers in the stories, and a bittersweet tone, similar to the Grand Budapest Hotel.

    The French students story was kind of awkward at times, and I don't think I sympathised with the students much, maybe I saw negative things of myself in them.

    But the other stories were amazing, especially the final one with Jeffrey Wright. Truly thought provoking.
  • uqbaankhan - 1 September 2022
    Artististic but boring!
    The film is visually stunning and beautifully directed. Cinematography is beautiful as Wes Anderson's films have , the Anderson effect is there. Artwork is commendable. Acting is good.

    The plot seems to be boring enough to grasp that attention if you are watching the film for fun. For me, the first of the three stories was better. Saying again, everything is made good it is just that it is not appealing like other Anderson's films are.

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    Nothing more to say. The review had to be more than 600 words and I could not think of any other words to add.
  • yarafisher - 26 July 2022
    Tilda Swinton Doing Cheri Oteri Doing Barbara Walters
    Other than that is was great. Normal Wes weirdness. Especially enjoyed The Artist portion and narration. But wonder if he will ever get new muses? Would be refreshing to see more new faces in his stories.