Among Wes Anderson's Best

I watched this today and am stunned by its quality. I've enjoyed all of Anderson's films to an extent, but felt he'd been in something of a rut since The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Though I didn't outright dislike his three subsequent films, I felt they were the worst of his oeuvre. Each has merits, and visually his films are always a delight, but they didn't hold up to his prior work. The Darjeeling Limited is a downright masterpiece in my book, as good as anything he'd ever made, and it seemed as though he'd peaked and was in a slow decline. Then along comes The French Dispatch.

I did not expect much. I'd meant to see it in a cinema, but never got around to it-- a first for me for an Anderson film outside of Bottle Rocket-- because I didn't think it was going to be very good. I predicted it would be his worst film. How wrong I was!

Every moment of the film, and every line of dialogue, is perfection. It's simultaneously hilarious and serious, always thought-provoking, and, best of all, nothing whatsoever like anything he's done before. Of course the framing of shots, and the impeccable attention to detail, are still there, but gone are most of the vivid colors, and even at trace of that preciousness that has long been his calling card. Each scene is still a delight. The opening sequence of a tray being filled in a cafe is one of the greatest things I've ever seen committed to film. It's clearly Wes Anderson, but it's a side of him we'd not seen before.

The humor is very intellectual, and many of the jokes are subtle, and require a certain level of education and knowledge on the part of the audience, so if that isn't your thing you may find the film boring, but this one hit the bullseye for me. I think this will join the short list of films I can watch and rewatch for the remainder of my life.