Review: Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom
By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on May 31, 2012 4:00PM
A group portrait of some of the main characters in Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom
We sat down to watch Wes Anderson's new movie with a bit of healthy skepticism. We've always admired him as a filmmaker, always marveled at his colorful ideas and the pitch-perfect casts he assembles to bring them to life. But truth be told, movies like The Royal Tenenbaums and especially The Darjeeling Limited come off like assemblages of clever setpieces in search of a satisfying story. Perhaps it's true, to paraphrase David Byrne, that stories are just a trick to get an audience to pay attention to something longer than they ordinarily would; but it's also true that Anderson's strain of whimsy can get dull and downright irritating without the momentum of a good story.
So it's with a real sense of relief we report that Moonrise Kingdom not only has all the usual Anderson hallmarks such as jokey non sequiturs, natty production design, arresting color design, and a wholly unique atmosphere, but also a sweet, genuinely touching story that deepens our enjoyment of all that cleverness. The plot is simple. On an island somewhere off the coast of New England, 12-year-olds Sam and Suzy meet one summer, come to the conclusion that they're soulmates, and run away from their respective homes to be together. Naturally the adults in their lives are horrified and set off on a search to find them. And, since this is a Wes Anderson movie, the year is 1965, albeit a 1965 that bears little resemblance to the historical record.
But at least, to choose but one example, Suzy's obsessions with Françoise Hardy and Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" actually tell us something about her character rather than just serve as evidence of Anderson's exquisite musical taste. Perhaps making Fantastic Mr. Fox, a stop-motion animated film where there wasn't the time or budget for whimsical but labored tangents, sharpened him as a fimmaker. Moonrise Kingdom runs just about the same length as The Darjeeling Limited (around 90 minutes) but feels much more focused and tightly constructed. The screenplay, which Anderson co-wrote with Roman Coppola, is brimming with witty dialog. But it also has its share of quiet, contemplative moments. One notably moving scene has Bill Murray and Frances McDormand contemplating their shipwreck of a marriage very early one morning as they lie in separate beds.
As usual Anderson has summoned a brilliant cast, Murray and McDormand among them. Harvey Keitel is hilarious as a scout master with a walrus-sized mustache, and Bob Balaban has some choice moments as an endearingly droll narrator. As the runaway youngsters, Jared Gilman (Pugsly crossed with River Phoenix) and Kara Hayward (more early Winona Ryderish than mawkishly Zoey Deschanelesque) are perfect. Their awkwardness hits just the right notes. Bruce Willis, playing the island's police chief Capt. Sharp, is especially delightful. At long last he's been given another chance to do the kind of the comedy he does best: his wry, earthy, low-key performance is exactly the kind of humble grit that keeps Moonrise Kingdom anchored to recognizably human characters. In a season packed with superheroes and aliens, that makes this a truly refreshing summer movie.
The movie opens tomorrow at Century 12 and CineArts 6, and Landmark's Century Centre