Moonrise Kingdom

0.5/4

Starring: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Bob Balaban, Harvey Keitel, Jason Schwartzman

Rated PG-13 for Sexual Content and Smoking

"Moonrise Kingdom" is one of those movies that while watching it, you realize that staring at a blank wall would be more interesting whatever is going on in the movie.  At least then you'd have your imagination to explore with.  And chances are it's going to be a lot more entertaining than what's going on in "Moonrise Kingdom."  And less irritating (the title is wrong for this movie too).

Two misfit kids, Sam (Gilman) and Suzy (Hayward), run away together on a small island to live out their lives in peace and harmony.  They grew to love each other through a chance meeting and love letters.  Naturally, the townspeople, which include Sam's scout master, Ward (Norton), the local (and probably only) cop, Captain Sharp (Willis) and Suzy's parents, Walt (Murray) and Laura (McDormand).  But because Sam is an orphan and his foster parents don't want him, he's going to end up in the hands of Social Services (Swinton), unless the townspeople can do something about it.

Anderson's style is quirky and offbeat to be sure.  Dry, subtle humor, wide spacious shots with unwavering perspective, oddball characters and precocious kids.  That's all fine and good for his legion of surprisingly rabid fans (I've been insulted online by some of them just because I didn't like him...more than any other film or actor/director that I have openly disliked), but for anyone else who is not a devout fan of Anderson, it means boredom.

The key is in how he handles the material.  Some of the stuff, I'll admit, is worthy of a grin.  Like the treehouse that is mistakenly built on the top of the tree instead of in the middle or that bit with a paper mache dummy (which caused me to laugh out loud).  But when the humor misses, or he's going for character identification, the film sinks like a rock.  It's boring, pretentious (it's filmed with little variety in camera angles or perspectives...the whole thing feels like one of those really stuffy arthouse movies) and annoying.

The acting varies.  The two misfit lovebirds are okay, but little more.  Both Gilman and Hayward make their screen debuts here, and while neither is terrible, they're not standout either.  Sam has potential to be somewhat interesting, if not for Anderson force feeding the character into another bizarre creature that he loves so much.  Suzy on the other hand, is a misanthrope; she's like a young Enid from "Ghost World."  A bit of the plot deals with the characters worrying that Sam will get sent to a mental institution because his foster family doesn't want him and that he'll get electroshock therapy.  Sam is weird to be sure, but it's Suzy that needs serious mental help.

The townspeople are played by a mix of Anderson regulars (Murray and Schwartzman) and Anderson newbies (everyone else).  Willis and Norton fare best; they have energy and Norton's Ward is bizarre enough to get a few grins in the beginning.  McDormand is also good for the same reason.  Swinton, is surprisingly flat and Keitel barely has any screen time.  Anderson's regulars are non-entities.  Murray can be hilarious in the right role.  Any movie he made until he started veering into drama and Anderson territory is going to be hilarious.  But Murray can only do his typical smartass stuff; if he's in any other kind of role, he's awful (although he does have one mildly amusing one-liner).  Schwartzman is only on screen for a few scenes, but he's actually pretty good, unlike his other roles where he is exceedingly irritating.

I've been told (repeatedly) that I don't get Wes Anderson's humor.  I think that's a fair statement.  Unlike "The Royal Tenenbaums," where every character is so bizarre and unlikable that you wish they'd run into Jigsaw from the "Saw" franchise, here it's at least easy to understand what Anderson is going for.  But Anderson's style is so pretentious and off-putting that had I not been so irritated by all the self-importance, I'd have fallen asleep.

Heed my advice.  Just stay away from "Moonrise Kingdom."

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