Moonrise Kingdom
Friday, June 22nd, 2012 8:44 pm—FilmMoonrise 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.
I was looking for a light-spirited movie on a rainy Saturday morning and happened upon Moonrise Kingdom by chance, if there is such a thing. I was completely captivated the moment Edward Norton stepped out of his tent with the cigarette glued to his lips. I sort of knew I had fallen upon a winner. It’s an opportunity in itself I find, to help encourage us to choose alternative paths in life. I know I walked away wanting to do something outrageous and gleeful and I’m in my 60s!
The story doesn’t say where the kids ended up long term but you can well imagine that they became leaders of sorts, inspiring naturally by example, what courage and determination can get you. In a world with a “one size fits all” mentality, this movie came as a welcome change that illustrates I find, that uniqueness can be rewarded and I’m a firm believer in that, so it was a perfect fit for me. I will buy the DVD so that I can share this movie with my grandchildren when they become of an age to watch it with me and I’m dying to see how they’ll respond.
Hi Belinda – thank you for the lovely comment! It’s so nice to hear from other people who were so touched by the film. I hope your grandchildren love it, when the time comes.