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
  • musamatthew-11348 - 4 April 2024
    It's a shame we don't get more movies like this.
    French Dispatch is an anthology film which is something we don't often get that much and I'm really glad we got one, there's only three storys told and they are fantastic and the sets are incredible it's like all the props you would see in a play, the acting is great, the score is good and Owen Wilson falling down the stairs on a bike was the funniest part for me.

    The first story with Benicio del Toro was Good I like how we get to see him dredding overtime while this Snoozy Adrien Brody wants his art it's funny how his charcter is literally just the same one he'd played in Grand Budapest Hotel only more coward because everything that happens all leads up to the Part when Moses chases Adrien Brody in a Wheelchair which was really funny I also like how creative it is whenever there's a shot where everyone is standing still completely frozen and also when an Older Moses takes over for a younger version of himself in prison which was Great.

    The Second story is in my opinion the weakest of the three it's still really good but it is a little slow and for some reason it's supposed to be an intense story about Timothee chalamet and other young people start a rebellion against the private university yet for some reason at one point in the story there playing chess which is weird but Christoph Waltz making an appearance was the best part of the story for me personally.

    The last story is my favorite of the three and I think they saved the best for last where Jeffrey Wright retells the story about the time when he got caught up in the middle of a hostage situation where his friend who is the polices cheif had his son kidnapped by Edward Norton the whole segment is fun, Willem dafoe making a cameo was cool and that whole animated chase sequence was funny especially the part when while Jeffrey and his friend were chasing Edward Norton all over the place then back into their vehicles everyone else was just standing there waiting for them to come back only for them to proceed the car chase which was really funny.

    Overall this is seriously one of Wes Andersons most under appreciated films that seriously deserves a watch and is very good plus it was really nice seeing Tony Revolori and Saoirse Ronan returning to a Wes Anderson film since the Grand Budapest Hotel.
  • ltworrall - 11 September 2023
    Wes Anderson at his most Wes Anderson
    If you have never seen a Wes Anderson film, then the first watch of The French Dispatch may catch you off guard. If you have seen his work before, you will instantly understand what sort of a movie you are in for.

    Let me summarise the film as best as I can.

    It is mind boggling this movie was made on a budget of $25 million.

    Firstly, its cast is absolutely stacked. From the lead actors to the side characters. 25% of the main cast could completely carry another movie. It's a testament to Wes Anderson's pulling power as a writer / director.

    Touching on Wes Anderson as a writer, in this film he demonstrates just how underrated he is, as a master of dialogue and character. Not to mention his visual storytelling he is known for.

    The sets and overall production design of this movie is an absolute joy to behold, and the camera is placed to perfection in every scene.

    The film is told in three short stories, narrated as journalistic pieces for the fictional 'french dispatch'.

    The performances are all strong, the music is excellent and the film moves quickly and purposefully through each moment.

    For me, the film lacked a strong emotional resonance as well as characters to emphasise with.

    This was undoubtedly the intention, but it leaves me walking away from the film unsure of its motive, and what Wes wanted the audience to feel upon the movies credits.

    Overall I think the film is a great watch, unlike 99% of movies you will find today.
  • blmulholland-14261 - 8 July 2023
    This is what happens when a director gets self-indulgent
    I have mixed feelings on Wes Anderson. I really like his visual style, which I know some people dislike. You can always spot a Wes Anderson film. They feel a bit like a theatre performance. It's quirky, light and the dialogue is unnatural, but often interesting.

    This movie exemplifies all the Wes Anderson stylistic features, but ultimately is a bad movie, with bad plot, poor acting, and just WAY too much fourth wall breaking. Then Anderson attempts to dress it up in his style as if that would just 'fix it'.

    It doesn't.

    The movie is intensely boring, not terribly funny, the plot goes nowhere and instead the run time is filled with the kind of stuff you expect art college students to spend hours gazing at their navels about.

    I strongly regret having watched it.
  • allanni - 27 October 2022
    The french dispatch
    I'm only a fourteen year old girl writing this.

    The beauty and absurdity of Wes Anderson's films always stunned me even from being a child, fantastic mr fox was one of the films that had started my love for films the first time I watched it.

    The soundtracks would stick in my head for days on end too. Wes' films are perfect in every way.

    The French Dispatch was a nostalgic film for me, even watching it for the first time. I watched The Grand Budapest Hotel only a few weeks before and it seemed to spark something?

    The French Dispatch is a beautiful film, three different stories in one, it was beautiful to watch as well as listen to. Just as Tim Burton has his favourite actors and actresses, Wes seems to too. Tilda Swinton and Bill Murray pop into my head.

    In the world I live in, even though no one has told me that I am, I feel as if I'm an outcast. I hang onto films, music and books as if they were a real person and it's all I enjoy. Whoever is reading this review probably knows what it feels like to be an outcast, so if your reading this review before watching The French Dispatch then just do it. From the first ten minutes of watching the film I see different colours, faces and it made me wonder why I class myself as an outcast.

    The characters are all outcasts, all different in their own way, sometimes small.

    It made me feel at home in my own skin and made me want to watch it over and over again.

    I bought the soundtrack a couple of weeks after watching the film too.

    Wes' films are a work of art, after watching you feel contempt. Every shot, angle or frame of his films should be in a gallery. It is perfect.

    I am no filmmaker but I do want to be. I will be one day.
  • Filmfreak67 - 27 August 2022
    Boring
    Sorry to Wes, usually a fan and I really wanted to like this film because of the cast, but also the trailer - but this wasn't all that, the first few stories were fine and somewhat interesting, but then the film just... keeps on going, and feels like it's lasting an eternity. There comes a time where you need to just wrap it up, and not waste the viewers time, it was so long I almost feel personally offended. Even Timothee couldn't save this one and that's saying something. I'm still giving it a 4 because there are worse films about, and in the grand scheme of things it's still a Wes Anderson film, and you should still watch it if you're deciding between this and a Marvel film for example. Marvel is trash.
  • Pimilli - 24 July 2022
    I couldn't. I just couldn't anymore.
    I've liked Wes Anderson in the past. The Royal Tenenbaums, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Grandbudapest Hotel, but this was where I jump off. It's the excessive narration and self-indulgence. After a while it gets too precious. The first vignette with Benicio was good. Then at the end of the second vignette with Frances McDormand we looked at each other, my wife and I, and we had had enough. His visual style is wonderful, the art direction should win something and possibly the cinematography, but overall the movie left me cold. With Anderson's style you need a single cast to follow. Once you throw in other things and other vignette's we don't care anymore.