Having been a long time WA fan, I waited anxiously for this film and saw it in the first screening at the BFI Film Festival. For viewers new into Wes Anderson's style it will certainly feel charming. But movie throws up so much "cute detail", there is almost nothing else left to watch. Almost all dialogues are short one-liners and none of the characters get a chance develop any real gravitas. Mélanie Thierry, Benicio Del Toro and Frances McDormand merely deliver a fraction of what they are capable of, while the rest of the all-star cast drown in the "noise". In particular, Bill Murray's role is inconsequential - a huge disappointment considering his potential and how he and Wes created fireworks in almost all their previous movies together. The fast-paced story-telling doesn't work and the whole movie feels like a machine gun assault with Wes Anderson elements. The movie also lacks the emotional depth that usually underlies his other movies. Disappointed. Especially, considering what it could have been.
Review of The French Dispatch
