Marketing’s a funny thing, looking through all the information about this film, it keeps getting mislabeled as a drama, but not at all; because Moonrise Kingdom is one of the most hilarious films of the year. It’s not exactly a laugh a minute like Anchorman, nor filled with fart jokes like American Reunion, it’s just a nice, clean, “coming of age”, piece of entertainment with a message or two – a dramedy if you will.
Moonrise follows the start of a relationship between two emotionally troubled teenagers; scout Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman), and resident Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward); on a remote island off mainland New England. When the oddball pair decide to run away across the island on an adventure, it’s up to police captain Sharp (Bruce Willis, Red) and scout master Ward (Edward Norton, Incredible Hulk) to team up with Suzy’s parents (Lost In Translation’s Bill Murray and Almost Famous’ Frances McDormand) and bring the young couple home, and deal with personal drama on the way.
In their debut roles, Gilman and Hayward showed impressive acting abilities, at such a raw and developing time; given Sam’s social inadequacies Gilman’s performance is near asperger-like and it’s easy to believe Hayward could flip out at anytime with her anger issues. More than a bit fun is the bumbling duo of Willis and Norton as the local police officer and scout master, charged with finding the young couple; Norton is clearly enjoying himself playing the dorky scout, whilst you almost felt sorry for the lonely and pathetic Willis (despite his tempting married women).
Almost a parody of the Grindhouse flashcard style, and with suitable 60’s music playing, Moonrise’s opening credits were brilliant; we take a look around the Bishops household peering into rooms, with cool techniques, 90 degree camera turns, and walking backwards through a table as Murray closes it before sitting down for dinner; it’s all done with the feel of being filmed in an overgrown doll house, and it’s somehow creepily relaxing. As is the rest of the well suited cinematography which has a perfect balance of artificial and natural light, and uses an oddly surprising amount of colour to create a picturesque locale.
The humour in this film is excellent; it doesn’t ever feel forced and there’s a surprising range in the jokes; it goes from black (with Sam putting homemade beetle earrings on Suzy’s ears) to slapstick (with Ward trying to do his daily morning leader routine without any of his charges around) with no horrible gear-grinding, which could have very easily happened. A personal favourite are the other members of Sam’s scout troup; how can you not like a fairly reasonable argument between a bunch of 12 year olds about whether or not to take weapons on a hunt for a missing scout? The cameos from Jason Schwartzman (Bored To Death) and Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs) go against their usual stereotypes, with some cine-nerd laughs coming from a perceived tough guy like Keitel having to be saved from a burning tent.
Director Wes Anderson (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) has certainly developed a niche with these quirky dry humoured comedies he continues to make, and with all the quality cinematography and European influences, it’s just a shame he has to take three years to produce another classic slice of laughs. He’s clearly well liked in actor circles (with the crazily good casts he manages to assemble for his films), and it’d be great if Moonrise Kingdom could reach the same level of success that The Royal Tenenbaums achieved and appear a little more accessible to the public; but at the same time it’s nice to be a little bit selfish and keep another Anderson masterpiece to yourself, enjoying it alone, or with a very select few.
Moonrise Kingdom gives the impression you’ll be walking into something like Little Miss Sunshine, or Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind; you know, one of those “smart” comedies which aren’t that funny at all and just get over by movie hipsters supporting it; but instead you’ll walk away very pleased with Wes Anderson’s latest effort. For such a short film it delivers a decent amount of laughs and as there’s not one fault out of the cast’s performances, Moonrise Kingdom comes highly recommended.
