The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

I could listen to Benedict Cumberbatch talk all day but good thing this is a short because it was very tiresome. It was the perfect amount though and a type of storytelling I haven't seen much of (can't say i'm crazy about it). Same scrupulous sets, impeccable dialogue, symmetry in every shot, aspect ratios galore and carefully chosen color palette as the usual Anderson. It was very visual but I feel like judging the acting based on vocal performances, because holy shit was it ever vocal. Probably more words spoken than most 90 minute movies.

Essentially this is an entirely monotone audiobook played at 1.5x speed, with the typical Wes Anderson visuals. Ok, some characters are closer to 1.25x speed. As an enjoyer of audiobooks and Wes Anderson, this should have been an easy 9 or 10 rating, but it just didn't resonate with me. Other reviewers called it "exhausting", and I'm inclined to agree. There's not a single moment of pause to breathe and digest until the credits roll. Ironically, I likely would have enjoyed the story more in text format, although it wasn't particularly engaging or profound. The beginning held my interest, then it steers off into cliche territory, and ultimately finishes with a boring trope. At least I got a good laugh from the commenter who proclaimed this as Wes Anderson's best film ever made. That was worth enduring the 40 minutes of flat turbo narration.