Massachusetts native Steve Carell co-stars as an eccentric motel owner.

Many folks are calling “Asteroid City” the “most Wes Anderson movie Wes Anderson has ever made.” One could argue that statement is true of every movie the fastidious filmmaker has crafted, from “The Grand Budapest Hotel” to “The French Dispatch” to “Isle of Dogs,” all of them. We are at the point in which watching one of the seven-time Oscar-nominee’s films is less about the movie and more about the Wes Anderson Experience. Each madcap confection one-ups the film that came before it, with varying results.

Jake Ryan, Jason Schwartzman and Tom Hanks in “Asteroid City.” (Courtesy of Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features)

“Asteroid City” is no different. The movie contains Anderson’s signature attention to detail, strong visual style, and clever irony, and is blessed with an all-star ensemble. Anderson’s script features one eccentric scenario and character after the next, introduced in a multi-layered narrative. The plot is a riddle wrapped in an enigma on steroids. The story-telling structure of “Asteroid City” is Anderson’s version of the Multiverse of Madness, minus the Marvel hyperactivity.

The gist: Asteroid City is not a real place. It is a set from a play staged as a television production. Anderson folds a TV show into a play within a movie. At one point, a character says, “I don’t understand the play.”  Another character replies: “Doesn’t matter, just keep telling the story.”  As a viewer, you just follow the rambling dirt road, trying to figure it out. Eventually, you might find a poignant story about grief, parental love, and the artistic process, has flourished. Or you might fall asleep.

Massachusetts native Steve Carell, Aristou Meehan and Liev Schreiber in “Asteroid City.” (Courtesy of Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features)

Nevertheless, you cannot help but marvel at Anderson’s blend of artistry, humor and emotional resonance. It is all acted out by a starry ensemble fronted by Anderson regulars Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Willem Dafoe, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber and Jake Ryan. Actors on their second Anderson outing are Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston, Stephen Park, Jeffrey Wright and Rupert Friend. Newcomers Tom Hanks, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Maya Hawke and Hope Davis join them. They all fit perfectly into Anderson’s twee world.

Acton native Carell, who spends his summers in Cohasset, co-stars in a role that initially belonged to Anderson alum Bill Murray. Carell plays the manager of a motel, frittering about in a green-tinted poker visor, preparing rooms, and fixing vending machines that dispense martinis for the guests who have descended upon the small Southwestern town of the title. It is 1955 and the occasion is the Junior Stargazers and Space Cadets Convention. A bug-eyed alien crashes the conference, and everyone gets stuck in this dusty small town (population: 87).

Scarlett Johansson in a scene from “Asteroid City.” (Courtesy of Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features)

Among the visitors is the Steenbeck family. Dad Augie (Schwartzman) is a war-photographer who has not yet told his children that their mom died three weeks ago, and they have been driving around with her ashes in a Tupperware. Son Woodrow (Ryan) is a science phenom sweet on Dinah (Grace Edwards), another brainiac teen. Augie falls for her mother, Hollywood starlet Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson). They only ever interact through the windows of their cottages. From time to time, Anderson cuts to black-and-white to visit the backstage of the theatrical production. Everyone is wrestling with varying degrees of existential crisis. Back in the realm of saturated color, Tom Hanks shows up to steady the ship, inserting wisdom with a pistol tucked into his waistband. Rupert Friend in denim and spurs as a singing cowboy is a fun standout. Matt Dillon as a chatty mechanic named Hank, however, sums up exactly how I felt walking out of the theater: “Everything’s connected, but nothing’s working.”

Weymouth’s Wes Anderson connection

Wes Anderson commissioned Weymouth artist Rich Pellegrino to create a painting used in the film “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” That piece, an Egon Schiele-style erotic painting of two women, was destroyed by actor Adrien Brody in the movie.

‘Asteroid City’

Rating: PG-13 for brief graphic nudity, smoking, and some suggestive material

Cast: Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Stephen Park, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie, Tony Revolori, Jake Ryan, Jeff Goldblum

Writer/Director: Wes Anderson

Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Where to watch: In theaters

Grade: B