Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

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courtesy of guardian.co.uk

When love is not madness, it is not love. 
- Pedro Calderon de la Barca

I went to church and summer camps a number of times growing up, but I never had a "camp girlfriend." I was kind of a little kid who talked to much and, though I've never had any problems talking to girls, I was also never the one they'd want to be with. That being said, it didn't prevent me from having crushes on people, but never acting upon them. Such is young love.


For all the films that tackle the excitement of youth and your first love, Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom is possibly the most surreal, yet equally honest portrayal of such an event, which motivates and touches plenty of people on the fringe. Taking place on a small island in New England in the 1960's, the film focuses on Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward) and their decision to run away together. Sam is an orphan away at Khaki scout camp, while Suzy is diagnosed as mentally unstable and essentially the black sheep of her family. After their disappearance, a number of different subsets of people join the search to find these two, each with something at stake.

First is scoutmaster Ward, played expertly by Edward Norton, who views Sam as his responsibility, but is otherwise a relatively lonely man, extremely motivated with his duties as a scoutmaster. He turns to police captain Sharpe - played by Bruce Willis - an equally lonely man, stuck in an affair with a married woman who treats him more like an unwanted dog who wants nothing more than attention she refuses to give. This married woman is Laura Bishop (Frances McDormand), who also happens to be Suzy's mother. Both Laura and her husband Walt (Bill Murray) are local attorneys and, while they are frantic about finding Suzy, they are more motivated by anger and frustration with a daughter who just won't fall in line with the rest of the family. Eventually, Social Services (Tilda Swinton) is brought into it, after it is revealed that Sam is adopted, motivated by a need to put him back in the system, after his foster parents decide they don't want him anymore. Meanwhile, we are treated to a Wes Anderson staple: random "narration" from a character that tends to detail the terrain of the area and past events that don't take place within the duration of the film, this time provided by a wonderfully dry Bob Balaban.

Wes Anderson's films - as strange as they may be - all tend to eventually find a focus on the importance of relationships, whether they are within a broken family or between two outcasts in a world for which they are not socially prepared. While Moonrise Kingdom's young lovers set the plot in motion, the real strength of the film comes from the development of the search party members, each alone in their own way, looking for some sort of companionship. Throughout the film, while their main goal is to find Sam and Suzy safe and bring them home, a piece of them all (even eventually Sam's fellow scouts, who begin the film as his enemies) hopes that they escape with their relationship intact. At least then someone in this tiny town would be truly happy.

courtesy of guardian.co.uk

While Anderson employs a few of his normal players (Murray and Jason Schwartzman star in most, if not all of his films), his addition of Norton, McDormand, Swinton, and Willis is inspired, if only because they fit so perfectly into his little world. McDormand and Swinton have always seemed to have a Wes Anderson-esqe presence on screen and, while this doesn't seem like a normal role for Norton or Willis, a closer look proves otherwise. The work Willis has done in films like Pulp Fiction and even Death Becomes Her proves his mettle in dramedy (he's more than just a broad Hollywood actor), while Norton's turn in Death to Smoochy feeds right into a Wes Anderson motif (minus the darker aspects of it, mostly provided by Robin Williams). Bob Balaban's consistent presence in Christopher Guest films also tailors him for Wes Anderson's universe.

Wes Anderson films are not typically made for the majority of viewing audiences. They're quirky, unique, and tough to break into emotionally without the right frame of mind. Although, I would argue that Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums and now Moonrise Kingdom are more touching than most of the much more commercial attempts to build deep connections through melodrama (but I'm a Wes Anderson fan). Moonrise Kingdom is so matter-of-fact in its approach that it can feel off-putting, but still manages to give its characters a lot to work with, room to grow, and ways to connect with each other that you can only find in a Wes Anderson movie.

Moonrise Kingdom, like all of Wes Anderson's films, is not for everyone. But in his little world of quirkiness and beauty, it is easily one of his more accessible films. For those looking for an easier entry into the Anderson pantheon, I would start with The Fantastic Mr. Fox, then maybe move to this film, then to Tenenbaums or Bottle Rocket. Either way, if you aren't really a fan of his, this film is still one of the best of the year, finding a balance between wonderfully weird and delightfully subtle. Someone gets stabbed with scissors and someone gets struck by lightning, but somehow all the strange plot points and Anderson's stylistic set design and cinematography don't deter the audience from witnessing a truly honest portrayal of young love, nostalgia for a simpler time, and the necessary human need to have someone with which to walk through this typically boring, but occasionally unpredictable life.

SHOULD YOU SEE IT: Encouraged