Moonrise Kingdom

"Excellent"

Moonrise Kingdom Review


Anderson's films definitely aren't to everyone's taste, with his quirky approach to direction, character and and story structure. But this gently engaging adventure is his warmest, wittiest film since The Life Aquatic. It keeps us smiling all the way through.

Scout leader Ward (Norton) sends out a search party when preteen scout Sam (Gilman) runs away from the camp. He can't get far on this New England island, and it turns out that he has run off with Suzy (Hayward) daughter of a local couple (Murray and McDormand). As Sam and Suzy's naive love blossoms in the wilderness, local police Captain Sharp (Willis) takes over the search and calls in Social Services (Swinton). But these kids are more tenacious than anyone expects.

The film is shot in Anderson's trademark straight-on visual style, with intensely yellow costumes and settings and splashes of orange and rust.

Everything is so heightened that we can't quite believe any of it, even if the attitudes and feelings of the characters are extremely resonant, from the runaways' inability to understand the nature of their passion to Suzy's parents' inability to escape the distractions of their jobs as lawyers.

Cleverly, Anderson and his cast portray this young romance as something far more intense than anything the adults feel. Even McDormand's secretive affair with Willis feels stale, while Norton's overgrown scout is perhaps a little too keen to solve the problem even if he doesn't really seem to have his heart in it. Meanwhile, Gilman and Hayward give the overachieving Sam and the curious Suzy a realistic sense of youthful curiosity as their odyssey takes a few wild twists and turns.

All of this is assembled in a way that's so mannered and deliberately wacky that it may leave some audiences cold. But Anderson is stirring in gently emotional subtext while indulging in nutty slapstick and knowing cinema references. And as the film continues, he cleverly taps into the adventurous child within us. Even the rather silly appearances of Balaban's posing narrator have an underlying pathos. So by the end we're surprised how much we care about these rather exaggerated characters. Mainly because we can see ourselves in them.



Moonrise Kingdom

Facts and Figures

Run time: 94 mins

In Theaters: Friday 29th June 2012

Box Office USA: $45.5M

Box Office Worldwide: 64

Budget: 16

Distributed by: Focus Features

Production compaines: Scott Rudin Productions, Indian Paintbrush, American Empirical Pictures, Moonrise

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 4 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
Fresh: 210 Rotten: 14

IMDB: 7.8 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director:

Producer: , Jeremy Dawson, Steven M Rales,

Starring: as Captain Sharp, as Scout Master Ward, as Sam, as Suzy, as Mr. Bishop, as Mrs. Bishop, as The Narrator, as Social Services, as Commander Pierce, Lucas Hedges as Redford, as Cousin Ben, Charlie Kilgore as Lazy Eye, as Gadge, Gabriel Rush as Skotak

Contactmusic


Links


New Movies

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

After the thunderous reception for J.J. Abrams' Episode VII: The Force Awakens two years ago,...

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Like the 2015 original, this comedy plays merrily with cliches to tell a silly story...

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

There's a somewhat contrived jauntiness to this blending of fact and fiction that may leave...

Ferdinand Movie Review

Ferdinand Movie Review

This animated comedy adventure is based on the beloved children's book, which was published in...

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Director Dave McCary makes a superb feature debut with this offbeat black comedy, which explores...

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

A dramatisation of the real-life clash between tennis icons Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs,...

Shot Caller Movie Review

Shot Caller Movie Review

There isn't much subtlety to this prison thriller, but it's edgy enough to hold the...

Advertisement
The Disaster Artist Movie Review

The Disaster Artist Movie Review

A hilariously outrageous story based on real events, this film recounts the making of the...

Stronger Movie Review

Stronger Movie Review

Based on a true story about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, this looks like one...

Only the Brave Movie Review

Only the Brave Movie Review

Based on a genuinely moving true story, this film undercuts the realism by pushing its...

Wonder Movie Review

Wonder Movie Review

This film may be based on RJ Palacio's fictional bestseller, but it approaches its story...

Happy End  Movie Review

Happy End Movie Review

Austrian auteur Michael Haneke isn't known for his light touch, but rather for hard-hitting, award-winning...

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Seemingly from out of nowhere, this film generates perhaps the biggest smile of any movie...

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

A Victorian thriller with rather heavy echoes of Jack the Ripper, this film struggles to...

Advertisement
Artists
Actors
    Filmmakers
      Artists
      Bands
        Musicians
          Artists
          Celebrities
             
              Artists
              Interviews