Moonrise Kingdom

  Director and co-writer Wes Anderson brings his unique style to the screen once more with this whimsical tale of young love. This is the story of Sam and Susie, two twelve year olds living on an island community who fall in love and run off together.  Featuring a co-starring cast of Bruce Willis, Francis McDormand, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Ed Norton, "Moonrise Kingdom" is a pure delight.

     The film is light and sweet-natured. The young lovers run off to the wild end of the island while everyone else looks for them. The film takes place in 1965 and has a magical innocence to it. Ed Norton plays a scout master who enlists the entire troop to hunt for Sam and Susie. Sam was one of the scouts and has excellent survival skills. Mr. Willis is the island police officer and plays very much against type except for one brief heroic moment. Ms. McDormand and Mr. Murray are Susie's parents and Ms. Swinton plays "Social Services", coming after Sam who, as it turns out is an orphan.

     The film itself is, in many ways, reminiscent of a live version of  "The Fantastic Mr. Fox", Mr. Anderson's animated classic.  All the actors play colorfully odd characters and much of the film is spent chasing down Susie and Sam. The soundtrack is lovely and makes much use of "A Child's introduction To The Orchestra".

      It may not become a classic like "Rushmore" or "The Royal Tannenbaums" but it has it's own charming appeal.