Review of Moonrise Kingdom (2012) by Jake W — 08 Mar 2014

Quite possibly, the best film of Wes Anderson's career. Moonrise Kingdom follows a Khaki Scout named Sam Shakusky, and a young, troubled girl named Suzy Bishop running away for a while after falling in love with each other, and trying to keep their parents and friends from keeping them apart.

Once again, Wes Anderson uses his visual and narrative quirks to create a great film, this time a romantic comedy-drama that doesn't have any or most of the ridiculous, unneeded clichés, instead opting for a more fresh, unique romance.

Anderson also uses the best talent he can get, and newcomers Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward are the perfect choice for the roles, as they have incredible chemistry, and they are the most unusual couple, which helps stray away from clichés without revealing that any person of any kind can be with a person like that.

Anderson also uses previous collaborators to help aid this masterful production to its limit, including long-time collaborator Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Mark Mothersbaugh, Roman Coppola (co-writer), Eric Chase Anderson, Larry Pine, and Alexandre Desplat (composer), while also finding new ones, such as Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Lucas Hedges, Harvey Kietel, and Tilda Swinton.

All of those people show that they know what Anderson's film is supposed to feel like while onscreen, and they fulfill their promises to a fault. Anderson and Coppola put tons of intelligent quirks into their Oscar-nominated script, while Anderson brings the film to life with the intelligent visual quirks that have made him one of the best independent filmmakers of all time.

All of the actors are amazing, and Ed Norton, who has done more serious and dark comic work, shows that he has a side for quirky comedy. Desplat is able to find the right mood with his music for every scene, and Robert Yeoman is able to find the right angle to shoot each scene, and Andrew Weisblum is excellent at putting in the finishing touches to this masterful work of art.

A must-see, and one of 2012's best films.