Quick Movie Review: Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

QMR: Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Bottomline: Terrific Wes Anderson film.

This wonderful movie written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola and directed by the one and only Anderson is everything a Wes Anderson fan wants in his movies. The writing is superb infusing the dialog with a quirky heart that I have come to expect from Wes. The art direction, costume design and cinematography all work together to give Moonrise Kingdom that classic Anderson look and feel. But the real reason you should go see this movie (and, let’s face it, if you live in Birmingham, you need to get there quickly!) are the actors – especially the two young leads. Played by Kara Heyward and Jared Gilman, Suzy and Sam decide as pre-teens to run away together and get married. This adventure leads to a frantic search by other actors then brought into the fray – Edward Norton as Scoutmaster Ward, Bruce Willis as Capt. Sharp, Bill Murray as Mr. Bishop, and Frances McDormand as Mrs. Bishop. They are all marvelous. But what truly impressed me were the children. I would think it’s hard enough for adults to master the cadence of Anderson-written dialog but for kids, I would think it would be incredibly difficult. But they pull it off – in flying colors. In addition to the two lead actors, there is a whole troop of Khaki Scouts who have key roles in the film. Moonrise Kingdom hearkens back to my favorite Anderson film, The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), and captures that magic and soul. Thank goodness. Because after The Darjeeling Limited (2007), I was beginning to worry.