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The French Dispatch

The French Dispatch (of the Liberty Kansas Evening Sun)

2021

Wes Anderson

Benicio del Toro, Frances McDormand, Jeffrey Wright, Adrien Brody ...

6.2

10,702

Comedy. Drama A love letter to journalists set at an outpost of an American newspaper in 20th century Paris and centers on three storylines.

	Media	Author	Review
		Tim Grierson Screendaily	"The director’s 10th feature is among his most visually remarkable, each frame filled with meticulously crafted small details that add up to a dense, inviting cinematic jewel box."
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"Amazing visuals, lots of laughs and an A-list cast – including Bill Murray – make Anderson’s tribute to the New Yorker a real treat (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter	"[It] is a beguiling curio, and one that no other filmmaker could have created (...) Every moment is graced by Anderson’s love for the written word and the oddball characters who dedicate their professional lives to it"
		Peter Debruge Variety	"The unconventional project succeeds in delivering that very particular hodgepodge pleasure of reading a well-curated issue from cover to cover."
		Guy Lodge Los Angeles Times	"Fans of the director will find all the usual surface pleasures of his work fastidiously in place (...) But I smiled more than I laughed and, if I’m being honest, I sighed more than I smiled"
		Ed Potton The Times	"It’s one of Anderson’s very best, though. That’s partly because of the palpable affection it has for the things it pays homage to (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Eric Kohn IndieWire	"This charming sketchbook of stories about American expatriates in France delivers a welcome salute to storytelling as a way to make sense of the world"
		Jessica Kiang The Playlist	"Wes Anderson dazzles with a whimsical new missive of wit & short story delights (...) The craft is, even by his exceptional standards, exceptional"
		Steve Pond The Wrap	"It’s best, maybe, to think of 'The French Dispatch' as a series of exquisite miniatures – amusing, meticulously designed and impeccably executed, but maybe not adding up to much more than the sum of their parts"
		Todd McCarthy Deadline	"The filmmaker has fashioned a fantastic and fantastical adjacent realm here like no other in filmdom, much less the real world, and for some people it’s a place they might care to visit time and again, even if Anderson himself is the only full-time resident".
		Jason Gorber SlashFilm	"Anderson’s whimsical new masterwork is a symphony of excess. (...) Watching 'The French Dispatch' is a delirious experience (...) is a rocket ship ride to your cinematic soul"
		Ben Kenigsberg rogerebert.com	"[Anderson] keeps everything coherent, but the storytelling is unwieldy, and he has trouble sustaining the much-needed madcap energy while shuffling through so many overlapping conceits"
		Pat Brown Slant	"Wes Anderson’s film is an often fascinating, wondrous exercise in complex narration and visual composition (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"
		Phil de Semlyen Time Out	"The formal playfulness veers between delightful and overwhelming (...) Anderson takes frequently stylistic detours that don’t fit the format (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Peter Travers ABC News	"An exuberant celebration of the printed word (...) This intricate, indelible, wondrously inventive jewel box of a movie will dazzle Anderson fans. His detractors will get their hate on as usual"
		Mel Valentin Screen Anarchy	"Delightful, wonderful ode to mid-century journalism (...) 'The French Dispatch' delivers an overabundance of visual splendors and auditory pleasures"
		Johnny Oleksinski New York Post	"We Wes fans are still willing to go along for the ride. But it's high time he starts culling his ensemble. There's no actual acting in his movies anymore (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"
		Ian Freer Empire	"A designed-to-within-an-inch-of its-life delight. If it lacks a compelling story, only one filmmaker could have made this film. And, in these cookie-cutter-director days, it's a vision to be cherished (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		John Serba Decider	"Wes Anderson is getting ever better at making Wes Anderson movies (...) And we love [his] movies, right? Right"

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