Moonrise Kingdom

Reviews from the Dark Side presents
Moonrise Kingdom
Released 5/25/12, now in theaters in limited release

Moonrise Kingdom is director, Wes Anderson's, latest kooky dramedy.  This is kind of a strange movie to release amidst the Summer mega blockbusters.  It has been receiving good press in its limited release so my curiosity was piqued.  Moonrise Kingdom has an all star cast including Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Jason Schwartzman,and Tilda Swinton.  Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward make their big screen debuts as the principal protagonists of the film. 

The location is a small, unnamed New England island town in 1965.  Twelve year olds Sam Shakusky (Gilman) and Suzy Bishop (Hayward) devise a plan to run away together.  Neither has a great home life.  Sam is an orphan currently in foster care.  He's a smart kid who gains a level of survivalist training as a "Khaki Scout."  He has no friends and is considered the weird kid among the other scouts.  Suzy comes from a well-to-do family on the island, but she is far from a happy child.  She has an explosive temper that her classmates have seen more than once.  She lives with her lawyer parents, Walt and Laura (Murray and McDormand), and her three brothers.  Her parents have an amiable relationship but not a great deal of affection for each other. Laura has sought affection outside the relationship with the local law enforcement officer, Captain Sharp (Willis). 

Sam and Suzy met the previous summer during a church play and remain pen pals over the next year.  They make a secret vow to run away the next summer.  Sam breaks away from his troupe and Scout Master Ward (Norton) in the night and meets Suzy in a meadow.  The two grow closer while they're on the run from all authorities on the island.  They are able to elude capture for awhile.  When they are finally caught, Walt forbids Suzy to see Sam again.  Sam's foster parents no longer want him, so he is taken in temporarily by Captain Sharp until Social Services (Swinton) arrives on the island to retrieve the boy.  All hope seems lost for the young couple, but they might receive help in unexpected places.  That help also needs to come fast as the storm of the century  is ready to hit the small island.

If you are expecting huge laughs from Moonrise Kingdom, you are seeing the wrong film.  The laughs come more as chuckles to mildly amusing scenes.  The good thing is there are enough of these chuckles to keep the movie from being dreary.  We are talking about two kids that have behavioral issues after all.  The romance between Sam and Suzy is sweet without being gross.  Hold on.  Suzy does allow Sam to touch her chest while they are roaming around in their underwear on the beach and they do a little Frenching.  OK, forget what I said about not being at least a little gross at times.  While the supporting characters are messed up just enough to be interesting, it is still the two  pre-teens that carry the movie and they do it very well.  They might have a future if they continue acting.

Moonrise Kingdom is the perfect movie if you are looking for something a little artsy and/or if you are tired of or not a fan of the huge summer spectacles.  It's a quirky little movie with two sharp performances.  However, I'm not quite sure what all the fuss is about.

The Dark Lord of the Sith says:

***stars

Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit! 2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee.
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here.