Wes Anderson is a peculiar filmmaker. Anyone familiar with his films (The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, Fantastic Mr. Fox) need not be reminded. Perhaps Moonrise Kingdom is the most bizarre to date.
I liked it, but I'm not totally sure why. It was charming. That's the best word I can think of. It's a preadolescent coming of age story of love and friendship but also a mockery and fantasy rolled into a bizarre period piece. The cast of children and adults are nothing less than superb (Bill Murray, Ed Norton, Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton etc.).
I love precise attention to detail and generally like the way Anderson et al incorporate personal idiosyncrasies into the framework of the story. However, this time I felt, more often than not, the over bearing details to be distracting and nearly irritating. I get it, you know how to frame a shot and enliven my senses to color and plaid rugs etc. It starts to become telling of set design and takes you out of the story in my opinion. The special effects are a bit inconsistent as well, sometimes looking real and sometimes intentionally fake.
Overall, though, the young love narrative was adorable and startlingly genuine. Anderson fans will no doubt love it and continue to praise him as their inspiration for starting personal film careers. He is certainly interesting and continues to make one ponder but about what, I do not know.
Recommended Viewing: The Royal Tenenbaums - My Girl - Mean Creek
Bob Scale: Objective: 8.5 - Subjective: 7.9
MetaCritic: 83
Rotten Tomatoes: 94
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