It's a Lonely Life Isn't It? 4 / 5
Directed by Wes Anderson.
The staff of a European publication decides to publish a memorial edition highlighting the three best stories from the last decade: an artist sentenced to life imprisonment, student riots, and a kidnapping resolved by a chef.
Wes Anderson returns with his expected symmetrical aesthetic with The French Dispatch - a collection of short stories all focused around a Kansas based magazine.
Three uniquely told stories all get the Anderson treatment with a stacked cast of familiar faces in roles large and small and unbelievable production design to compliment his directorial style.
Though it lacks any clear theme or structure, the short stories were expertly made even if they felt aimless. Though each story has its own quirks, my personal favourite was The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner partly for the hilarious chase sequence but mostly Jeffery Wright's dulcet tones.
Anderson's love of The New Yorker and storytelling is put on full form. The French Dispatch may not be his strongest work but it feels as individual as his entire back catalogue.
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