Moonrise Kingdom – Review

Moonrise Kingdom (2012) –

Directed by Wes Anderson. Starring Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, Frances McDormand, Harvey Keitel.

This film has got so many of all those Wes Anderson’s trademarks that it could easily become a fan’s favourite: the strange magical feel, the deadpan humour (almost Airplane! slapstick) mixed with an underlying sadness and melancholia, those classic sideways tracking shots across the sets, the reddish/sepia colour palette, Bill Murray, the quirky music… This could be nobody else’s work, but Wes Anderson’s!

And yet, at the same time, you may argue, we’ve seen it all before. Not only there’s a strange feeling of Déjà vu here permeating Moonrise Kingdom, but also the inconclusive, weightless and wobbly storytelling and the stock-characters this time feel even more exposed than they usually are. Maybe because the central story about 2 young kids who run away from home to find each other and fall in love, is so heartfelt and sweet that it almost feels out of tune with the cartoony nature of the world around them. I really wanted to fall in love for them, but everything around made me more and more aware of the trappings of such film-making style.

I’m not even suggesting that the cast is not great, because it is: Bill Murray plays slightly against his likeable self, Bruce Willis is as sweet as he’s rarely been before, Ed Norton‘s performance too is perfectly pitched and rather charming… And yet despite making this a great ensemble cast, each of them actually pulls the film in a different direction and eventually they add very little to the mix. For example, did we really need Harvey Keitel‘s character in this film? Could Tilda Swinton be anymore two-dimensional?

This is obviously an idealised vision of adolescent relationships, where love is honest, pure, simple, uncompromising, and it is probably the best part of the Moonrise Kingdom. And yet, the quirky style, the overloaded music (really too much, too loud and too intrusive in my view. There is never a moment of silence in this film. I really despised it, I’m afraid), the over-the-top secondary characters, all enhance this feeling of hyper-reality which somehow prevents you from fully engage with the film. But then again, as I said, this is a Wes Anderson’s movie and his fans will certainly love it… I’m not so sure about the casual viewer.

As far as I am concerned, I liked it, I’m happy I saw it, I appreciated its technical skills, its meticulous look,  its quirky humour (this is one of those films that leaves a smile on your face throughout its entire length as opposed to induce out-loud laughs) but in the end it is all a bit too indulgent, slightly hollow, a bit up its own self, and in the end, it just left me a bit cold. And for a film that’s all about pure feelings and childhood, that’s probably not a great sign.

6.5/10