If Anderson does sometimes lean too far into his own highly-constructed vision, The French Dispatch is at its best when fragments of honest-to-goodness, imperfect life shine through his perfect compositions.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 19, 2024

It's not lightweight, and it's not silly, and there's a moment of genuine pathos at the end of the third story that's quite unlike anything Anderson has ever done.

| Dec 28, 2021

The overall effect of all this is a particularly whimsical form of escapism -- as if an excessive knowledge of reality has brought on a state of nostalgia for a world that never was.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 11, 2021

It has everything that we've come to expect from Wes Anderson-carefully crafted aesthetics, perfect color palettes, and intricate tableaux of actors.

| Oct 30, 2021

The three major episodes in The French Dispatch are of roughly equivalent length, weight, and quality, although to be honest I only really liked the first one.

| Oct 29, 2021

If you come to The French Dispatch loving Anderson, there's much to continue loving here.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 28, 2021

I think it's marvelous from minute to minute.

| Oct 28, 2021

It is all of [Wes Anderson's] indulgences writ large in tiny font.

| Oct 28, 2021

If anything, "The French Dispatch" perhaps suffers because of its abundance which on first viewing can seem like overwhelming excess, but I think will hold up enormously well.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 28, 2021

It's hard to describe how ingenious, creative, and bold this work is.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 28, 2021

I can't help but wonder if the frantic pastiche and rampant nostalgia of this film weakened my ability to enjoy it. It feels hollow.

| Oct 28, 2021

It's easily the most mannered movie Anderson has made, which is really saying something. It's so mannered at times as to be almost unmoored - speaking of ships - but the many marvels it contains make that an acceptable price to pay.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 28, 2021

Anderson has always played by his own rules and created his own version of reality. It doesn'talways click, but when it does, it creates something special. "The French Dispatch" is something special.

| Original Score: B+ | Oct 28, 2021

If you like Anderson movies such as "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel," you'll like "French Dispatch," which he wrote and directed.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 28, 2021

The movie is an anthology not only of vibrant magazine stories come to life, but of seemingly everything Anderson knows how to do as a director. For some, this will inevitably feel more like a limit. For the rest of us, it's one of his best

| Oct 26, 2021

"The French Dispatch" is perhaps Anderson's best film to date. It is certainly his most accomplished.

| Oct 26, 2021

This is not the first time Anderson has devoted too much time to minutiae and too little to actual storytelling. Even devotees of his work may find this an exercise in frustration-albeit an exceptionally handsome one.

| Oct 26, 2021

On a first viewing I found it to be among the most punchable films I have ever seen...

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 23, 2021

Often a distant omnibus that might appeal only to his most ardent fans.

| Oct 23, 2021

Bill Murray, Timothee Chalamet, Benicio del Toro and Frances McDormand are among the stars enjoying pinpoint dialogue in the exquisitely rendered collection of stories.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 23, 2021