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I’ll admit it. I didn’t understand Asteroid City. The framing device of a movie within the movie about a play named Asteroid City which is the movie we’re actually watching…I got lost.
So I’m going to ignore the framing device and talk about the movie we saw, about a very colorful small town, a convention for some young genii (plural of genius) a romance between a movie star and a war photographer (recently widowed) and the gravitas of Tom Hanks.
I don’t always like Tom Hanks. I thought he was the annoying half of Bosom Buddies and the very punchable uncle from Family Ties.
But as the father in law of what I would label our protagonist, two men who clearly dislike each other, who would rather not be inconvienced by four children who just lost their mother while he does his own greiving, but doesn’t hesitate more than a moment to set out on a journey to rescue them when their vehicle blows to pieces. And he is undaunted by the government, three tiny angry princesses nor even an alien of uncertain goals.
It’s a hell of a performance. I saw in previews to it’s release that everyone in the movie affects a Wes Anderson themed monotone, and it’s fairly accurate. Somehow Tom Hanks manages to be the most monotone and yet convey the most emotion of all the characters. Because I believe he is a man who has tamped down his emotions…
