Review: Moonrise Kingdom

       I'll admit it, I'm a fan of Wes Anderson. Sure, call me a pretentious hipster douchebag, but I genuinely think that Wes Anderson is one of the best writer/directors making movies today. While The Darjeeling Limited wasn't my cup of tea (*rimshot*), I greatly enjoyed his other films, notably Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Fantastic Mr. Fox. I'm always excited to hear about his next film in the works regardless of how twee it may sound. Let's do a quick checklist to see if Moonrise Kingdom contains all of the trademarks of an Anderson film. Yellow text? Check. Center-framed shots? Oh shit yes. Matter-of-fact line readings? Check. French music? Check. Earth tones? Yup. Quirky childhood romance? You bet. Enough whimsy to power a thousand ukelele farms? Check. Oh, and of course, Bill Murray. It checks out, this is definitely a film by Wes Anderson.

       Set on an island off the coast of New England in 1965, the film focuses on Sam and Suzy, two children who met the previous summer and became flirtatious pen pals and plotted a sort of escape from their normal lives. Sam is a orphaned Khaki Scout who has trouble fitting in with his troop-mates. Suzy is a troubled daughter of two lawyers (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand). Sam's scoutmaster (Edward Norton) along with the help of what seems to be the island's only police officer, Capt. Sharp (Bruce Willis) try to track down the two missing children. The lovestruck kids make their way through the island's wilderness and set up camp on the shore of a small inlet. Survival for the two is not much of an issue as Sam was a top-notch Khaki Scout. We are also told by a charmingly bearded Bob Balaban that in a few days one of the largest storms of the century is about to hit the island, which adds significant tension in the final scenes. The storm itself could be taken as a metaphor for the approaching adolescence of our protagonists trying to get in one last summer of adventure and responsibility before being forced to grow up.

       While not as funny as Anderson's previous films, it still manages to not take itself to seriously. The actors don't play for laughs, and there is a real earnestness in everyone's actions. It's a cute movie. There's a sort of dissonance that occurs when we watch these young children dealing with the serious issues of relationships as though they were adults, but it works. Bill Murray is, as always, a real treat. He has appeared in 5 of Anderson's last 6 films (Bottle Rocket being the lone exception), and gives one of his best performances in a supporting role in recent memory. Bruce Willis is also surprisingly good in this much more subdued role than the typical Bruce Willis fare. I wonder if his casting as a police officer is a nod to Willis's other law enforcement roles in films such as the Die Hard series. Staples of Wes Anderson films include witty dialogue and excellent cinematography, and this film delivers in spades. While this film contains many of Anderson's trademark rule-of-three-breaking center-framed shots, it also maintains a warm, appealing palette throughout. The film is filled with tones of yellow, green, brown, and just a touch of red only abandoning it during night scenes when everything is coated in a dark blue. Yes, this film certainly has a twee hipster aesthetic to it, but if you are familiar with Wes Anderson's work, then you already know if you like it or not. It is a style distinct to this director, and you can bet that "What kind of bird are you?" is going to be one of the most commonly heard pick-up lines in Brooklyn for quite some time.