The French Dispatch
5/5
Based on 14 votes and 3 reviews.
Please rate between 1 to 5 stars
November 26, 2021
This movie, with its stellar cast, is so far-out it is hard to give it adequate credit and to somehow contain and describe in a few words. I loved all four stories, and the clear focus on the difficulty of the creative process of capturing a moment in time through the writing process. The story of the death of the paper's oligarch and editor was the death of any and all patriarchs who have kept the family together through sheer willpower. Bill Murray excelled in his role here. The story of the convict painter and his muse, as well as the absurdity of the art snobs who part so easily with their money, was brilliant. The story of the revolutionary despite himself was possibly the only one that needed a bit more work. The young ingenue rebel was ill defined and the sexual liaison with a much older woman, played brilliantly by Frances McDormand as the blasé depressed writer, could have been sharpened. The third and last piece with the homosexual food writer was perhaps the most lyrical and poignant. What stayed with me throughout, and kept me smiling, was the mind boggling insane tour de force of the constantly changing sets and backdrops. I have worked for years in the theater and every set change requires tremendous energy and forethought. This director seems to revel in this challenge and kept me on the edge of my seat. BRAVO to our most amazingly creative and insightful director alive today!
November 15, 2021
Like a great newspaper obit, The French Dispatch is a film done in an an artsy 2-D concept that mirrors it's subject: a newspaper. The editor, Bill Murray, respects all, won't cut, is almost daftly committed yet dispassionately true to the craft. Beyond truth- it derobes the paper to the heart of the pages. Section by section is revealed with witty brevity (and love) for a dead way of reporting.
November 15, 2021
It was a story of a great newspaper story told by a personality of Bill Murray - almost daftly dispassionate, very artsy and with love.