THE FRENCH DISPATCH - The Popcorn Junkies Movie Review

The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun is a 2021 romantic comedy-drama anthology film written, directed, and produced by Wes Anderson from a story he conceived with Roman Coppola, Hugo Guinness, and Jason Schwartzman. The film stars a star-studded ensemble cast featuring Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Bill Murray, and Owen Wilson. Its plot follows three different storylines as the French foreign bureau of the fictional Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun newspaper creates its final issue. Additional cast members in The French Dispatch include Liev Schreiber, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan, Elisabeth Moss, Jason Schwartzman, and Anjelica Huston. The project was first mentioned in August 2018 as an untitled musical set after World War II. That December, the film was officially announced, with Anderson calling it a "love letter to journalists." Filming took place between November 2018 and March 2019, with cinematographer Robert Yeoman, in the city of Angoulême, France. During post-production, editing was completed by Andrew Weisblum and the musical score was composed by Alexandre Desplat. Following a delay from 2020, The French Dispatch had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on July 12, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States by Searchlight Pictures on October 22, 2021. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the production design and performances.