Moonrise Kingdom

Kingdom of awkward romance.

It's a special class of people who enjoy movies by Wes Anderson. Many would say that his movies are boring and depressing. Many more people, including those who love his movies, call them just plain weird. I admit when I first saw The Life Aquatic and The Royal Tenenbaums, I wasn't sure what to think, with all the understated dialogue and odd interweaving relationships. But if there's one thing I appreciate in a movie, its characters that have both good and bad qualities. Wes Anderson is pretty good at that. 

Moonrise Kingdom isn't like other Wes Anderson movies you may or may not have seen. Its a sweet love story about two misunderstood tweens and the lonely adults who try to control them. The boy is an orphan who is a master at wilderness preparedness, due to many years spent in a group of "boy scouts" called something that doesn't infringe on any copyrights. His love interest is a twelve year old girl that wears lots of blue eye shadow and has anger management issues. The two run away together for a romantic camping trip to find a coastal alcove where no one will bother them, and their budding love can bloom.

No matter what their intentions are or how well they handle being on their own, children running away like that understandably puts the community on edge. Everyone panics and turns on each other, ready to point the finger of blame. I really enjoyed watching each individual's reaction, and how they applied the story of forbidden young love to their own lives. As we've come to expect from Wes Anderson, this is a film about lonely people, coming slowly to terms with their past as well as with their family. The difference with Moonrise Kingdom is that the young lovers add an element of innocence. Although the two are lonely and depressed, they are untainted by life, and it brings this movie to a level of lightheartedness that I didn't expect.   

Well... Its lighthearted for Wes Anderson. I thought it was cute!

You may be disinclined to see this movie because of that "cuteness", and the child actors being such a main staple of the plot. Let's face it, kids aren't usually great actors. Look how long it took Daniel Radcliffe to learn how to play Harry Potter! At least 8 films! The truth is, the tweens in Moonrise Kingdom aren't exactly on par with folks like, I don't know, say Daniel Day-Lewis? However, they are quite good, and they display a rawness that would be difficult for their legendary co-stars like Edward Norton and Tilda Swinton to pull off. I imagine it would be near impossible to evict emotions like that from tweens and even harder to capture it all on camera. Watching the two speak intimately with each other made me uncomfortable like I was interrupting something private. For that, I commend Wes.

I'm not sure if this is still in theaters or not, I watched it some weeks ago. But if it is still in theaters, then this movie is well worth the time spent in an air conditioned theater, on semi-reclining padded chairs. In this summer heat, you can't ask for much more than that, but this movie provides it anyway.