I have a confession to make: I’m not a big Wes Anderson fan. Out of all the movies I’ve seen of his there are only two which I enjoyed, which were Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Darjeeling Limited. In general I just can’t connect with all the weird characters which appear in his movies. So I really wasn’t rushing out to see Moonrise Kingdom, but as it has been getting rave reviews I had to find out if this was the third movie I’d like or if I’d better give up on watching his movies.
The story is about one of the most classic subjects in the history of movies, love. It’s about two lovers who decide to get away from society and social pressure and just enjoy the time they have with each other. What’s different about Moonrise Kingdom though is that Suzy (Kara Hayward) and Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) are in their early teens. Both have troubled relationships with the people around them and want to get away from it all. They do so without telling anyone and since they live on an island it doesn’t take long before a search party is started to find them.
The movie is filled with a lot of great performances of well-known actors including Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Edward Norton, Bruce Willis and Tilda Swinton, but this movie is all about the kids and their first experience with love, camping and telling each other stories about each other.
I really enjoyed this movie. It’s got that typical Anderson look, but it really works perfectly. I was a big fan of a small sequence in which the two “lovers” write each other letters, which was perfectly edited. The two read these letters, but you never hear the complete letters, but the words you hear give enough information to understand what kind of information the two are sharing. I was not expecting much from this movie, but ended up loving it. It’s a great depiction of first love and the purity of the feelings one might have.
Excellent! Glad you enjoyed it. It’s easily one of my favorite movies of the year.
Yeah, there’s a chance this might end up in my end of year list as well.
Nice to hear this one you over Nostra. It’s one of the better films of the year for me.
It’s definitely is Mark.
Hmmm I am sounding like a right old grumpy pants lately
While I enjoyed this film I just didnt get the BUZZ everyone else got from it.
Hahaha, you are not Scott. Just different tastes mate š I guess it’s one of those movies which you have to see in the right mood.
It’s such a relief to know I’m not the only person who isn’t a Wes Anderson fan! I couldn’t even sit through Royal Tenenbaums, and I haven’t bothered trying Darjeeling Limited yet. This film is not on my immediate priorities list.
Yeah, those earlier movies are just a bit too different for my liking…didn’t have that feeling here. Give it a chance…
Nice review. It’s one of my favorites this year as well.
Thanks a lot!
I really liked this too, and like you I have not really connected that strongly with Wes Anderson films in the past. But this is done with such care, and as far as tales of young love go, it is a cracker.
Yeah, this seemed less weird than the previous movies and this tale of young love just works perfectly.
I really loved this movie. There was just something more intimate and heartfelt about Anderson’s direction here, that’s sort of been missing in the past couple of years. Good review.
Nicely put, that was indeed the case for me as well. In the earlier movies just felt weird for the sake of being weird it seemed, here they somehow seemed more real (although some of them still were strange like “Social Services”
Glad you enjoyed this one, Nostra. I’m not a huge fan of Wes Anderson either, but this one really hit the spot for me.
Happy to hear that Eric. Seems there are quite a few others who are not huge fans of his work, which surprises me. Thought I was one of the few who didn’t š
I think this one might be his easiest to relate to film. I think working with children is a good fit for him. Check out my review http://amandalovesmovies.com/2012/05/27/moonrise-kingdom/ ā
Yeah, this and Fantastic Mr. Fox, although that one still had some pretty out there chracters in it.
Watched it recently and its actually really excellent š
Glad you enjoyed it as well Tim.
Moonrise Kingdom was a nice surprise, to me his best film to date. I think the quirkiness fits with the material, which in the past I don’t always think has been the case for the director, was somehow too forced.
Happy to read you enjoyed it. Wes Anderson should do more movies like this about kids or awkward teenagers!
Yeah, it seems like the perfect fit for his style!
Great review. I’ve been waiting with bated breath for this one to open around here.
Wow, still not out over there? Hope it will be soon!
Me too, haha š
Over the years Wes Anderson has been one of my favorite director and i loved this movie also but it still is not as good as movies such as Rushmore, The Royal tennenbaums or Fantastic Mr.Fox but still good none the less.
I’m completely opposite as I really couldn’t connect to his earlier movies, but quite like the newer ones š