Archive for June, 2012

Moonrise Kingdom

Friday, June 22nd, 2012—Film

Moonrise Kingdom (USA 2012, Comedy/Drama/Romance), Writers: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola; Director: Wes Anderson

Moonrise Kingdom is a wonderfully odd film about wonderfully odd characters. It’s sprouted from the visionary mind of Wes Anderson, the director behind the fabulous Fantastic Mr. Fox and a batch of other live action films about misfits and oddballs (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Royal Tenenbaums). With Moonrise Kingdom, he’s outdone himself.

In his characteristically colourful style, set to an imaginative, pitch-perfect score by Alexandre Desplat, Anderson tells the peculiar story of Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward), two unusual New England youngsters who fall in love in the 1960s and run away together—the only way to go when you’re 12 years old and the whole world’s against you. The pair is pursued by a medley of quirky, idiosyncratic characters, including Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton), his troupe of Khaki Scouts, Suzy’s parents (Frances McDormand and Bill Murray) and Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis).

You have to watch Moonrise Kingdom to appreciate its special brand of whimsy. It’s a lovely portrait of strange and beautiful people, each with embarrassing foibles and hilarious perspectives, all delivered in perfect deadpan. Pure movie magic. See it to believe it.