Director: Wes Anderson
Writers: Wes Anderson and Roman Coppolla
Cast:
Bruce Willis ... Captain Sharp
Edward Norton ... Scout Master Ward
Bill Murray ... Walt Bishop
Kara Hayward ... Suzy
Frances McDormand ... Laura Bishop
Tilda Swinton ... Social Services
Jason Schwartzman ... Cousin Ben
Jared Gilman ... Sam
Harvey Keitel ... Commander Pierce
Bob Balaban ... Narrator
L.J. Foley ... Izod
Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick ... Roosevelt
Jake Ryan ... Lionel
Charlie Kilgore ... Lazy Eye
Neal Huff ... Jed
It's 1965 on a remote New England island. Sam, a Khaki Scout, falls in love with Suzy, a girl who is "emo" before her time. When they decide to run away, the Scouts, the police, Suzy's parents, and the Social Services all mount efforts to find the pair before a hurricane comes in.
Moonrise Kingdom is a sleeper of a period piece which keeps you enthralled not just with the oncoming meteorological mess, but the plight of the kids and the townspeople. In many ways, the narrative style reminded me very much of a live-action Peanuts cartoon and the parents often as not being literally distorted voices.
Sam was sweet, sincere, and geeky--very much a "Charlie Brown" and Suzy was labeled "emotionally disturbed, but I suspect no less so than her parents. It's hard not to cheer for the two of them, particularly when the human and meteorological storms draw near.
This is a film Tony and I saw based on no recommendations, purely to have a quiet afternoon in the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin. Admittedly, the Alamo makes every film better, but this one was well worth the matinee price and I suspect we'll be adding the DVD to our collection as well.
Rebecca McFarland Kyle, June 2012
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I enjoyed this film also. I like the director's whimsical storybook art direction and droll view of life. Though I wanted there to be a bit of gravitas at the end. SPOILER. For heaven's sake, the kid gets hit by lightning and walks away! He could have at least hovered between life and death for a few minutes for dramatic weight and to give a hint of the consequences of living in the world. Also loved Royal Tenenbaums. To me that film was anchored by some gravitas thru Angelica Houston, Gwyneth Paltrow and Gene Hackman's sadness.
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