Moonrise Kingdom

Welcome to New Penzance Island, the home of two love-drunk pre-teens, Suzy Bishop and Sam Shakusky. This is where we set our scene for the enchanting tale of Moonrise Kingdom as told by director, Wes Anderson.

Moonrise Kingdom is the seventh feature by Anderson, and might I say…the films got class. The story is built around the adolescent infatuation of two youngsters as they run away from home in a battle against family and friends (and scouts) to prove and declare their love for one another. The band of rescuers who set out to find the missing couple is bloody star studded.

Okay…so we have Bill Murray (of course…its a Wes Anderson movie), who plays Suzy’s father, the far too serious Walt Bishop, and alongside Murray is his stage wife, Laura Bishop as played by Francis McDormand. Next we have Edward Norton, who is probably my favourite of all the characters, a misunderstood middle-aged man  and resident Scout Master (and a math teacher on the side) and leader of Sam Shakusky. Tilda Swinton makes a minor appearance as the bitch social service lady, and Harvey Keitel runs the opposing Scout army on the other side of the Island. The gorgeous Jason Schwartzman is a sight for sore eyes as Cousin Ben. I don’t know why, but I just friggen love Schwartzman in basically anything he does…I mean put him on the screen, and I am sold.  Last, but most definitely not least, we have Bruce Willis who, I must say, gives an absolute ripper of a performance as Captain Sharp (resident police officer). 

Suzy and Sam, played by the premiering Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman, colour the film with vulnerability. Kara Hayward is just the most stunning 13-year old you will ever see, and Jared Gilman is just hilarious; I think we have just met the new Anderson muse. The ensemble of child actors in this film was actually awesome. The best moments for me (apart from any scene with Schwartzman) were the assembly of scouts, their dialogue with one another and their interaction with the adults. Can you imagine being on of them!!! Just casually on set with Bruce Willis, Edward Norton and Harvey Keitel…no biggy!

So what did I think of it? Look, it was pretty fantastic; you can’t deny it. Any Wes Anderson film, no matter how terrible, is usually one cut above the rest, and Moonrise Kingdom was by no means terrible. I would have to say that I still hail Rushmore as my personal favourite, but by golly gee wiz… this bad boy comes a strikingly close second. The framing, colour, lighting and sound are all as beautiful and perfect and enchanting and exciting as you would expect. The script is honest and cringeworthy (just how we like it), and the performances are all bang on! The only thing I can fault, and its not really all that terrible, is the duo of Hayward and Gilman as a couple on screen. I understand that they are both fresh onto the big screen, but I couldn’t escape the awkwardness I picked up on whilst watching the film. Both respectively played a perfect role, but as a duo, I just couldn’t believe it. 

Moonrise Kingdom has been on my ‘to watch list’ for a damn long time, so when I sat in my big red chair at Nova I was utterly bursting at the seams with excitement. This film lived up to all my expectations and I don’t think I will ever see Edward Norton the same way again that’s for damn sure. Wes Anderson is at the top of his game, and with each film outdoing the next I wait on tenterhooks for what this guy can come up with next.