Posting Wes Anderson is kinda cheating.
I did a cut of this movie with only the “Asteroid City” movie and none of the actors, writers, directors, backstories, production cards, or narration. It came out to an exact 80 minutes of a tight (if not sorta bland) movie.
For me, the film is very bland itself. Aside from the nice backgrounds and aesthetics, the story is very poor. It didn’t keep me engaged. I think its a problem with Mr. Anderson itself, his style got the main character of his films, the story is secondary. I noticed it in his last films, especially in ‘The French Dispatch’. For me, he created the recipe and the recipe became the problem: the films become bland, the style is there but is almost tiring to watch a film from him, seeing the same techniques and formulas over and over again.
I read one reviewer’s take AC was an internal critique of his style and sort of a deconstruction of his authorship. It seems many directors today are looking inwards.