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But, I am a Wes Anderson completist, so “Moonrise Kingdom” is on the list. If you’re an Anderson fan, you‘re not allowed to skip this one, even if it is the slightest of what’s admittedly a rather slight genre. What we have here is a sort of charming bauble that meanders about for an hour and a half and ends up nowhere in particular. But the usual Wes Anderson stuff accompanies this trip, so, worth it.
Detailed miniatures, total artificiality, warm lighting, eccentric performances, the usual cast of players, and a lot of twee. This is maybe the most twee of the whole oeuvre, in fact, since the leads are children.
Children who do not act in any recognizable way as children, of course. Deadpan is an Anderson trope, and these kids, particularly Kara Hayward as Suzy, are so affectless as to be circling catatonia. For whatever Andersonian reason, this purported 12 year old is wearing enough eyeshadow, eyeliner and fake lashes as to, well, perfectly channel Gwyneth Paltrow in “The Royal Tenenbaums”. Who also used an affectless delivery. I guess Suzy will grow up to be Margot Tenenbaum?
Sam is not quite as deadpan, but nobody who’s been or raised a 12 year-old will recognize him as being one. He’s doing the part that ordinarily goes to Jason Schwartzman in Anderson movies, and doing them the same way as Schwartzman did in “Darjeeling” or “Mr. Fox”. Not to worry, Schwartzman is in the cast as a shady Khaki Scout higher-up. “Give me the nickels.”
Both Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward, and all the child actors, use an odd adult-like diction and the lack of affect that’d worry any psychologist. I guess it’s part of the Anderson Artificial Artistic Magic Realism thing. But also, kind of creepy.
As is the romance between these two kids. First, because of the ages, but mostly because both kids are pretty creepy even without the romance.
Everyone delivers their lines in what I could call Bizarro version of Mamet-speak That is, characters still talk fast, in clipped sentences, but with flattened emotions. The exact opposite of Mamet’s equally artificial but emotionally heightened speeches, where every fleeting feeling is indicated every second. It’s the Wes Anderson way, and it’s funny. And there are a lot of funny bits in “Moonrise Kingdom”. The scout camp stuff is good, and there are great visual gags like the tree house and a motorcycle in a tree. And the hallucinatory small church production of Noah’s Flood (or Noye’s Fludde, I should say, Benjamin Britten being source music for a lot of this) is something I would pay good money to see.
Similarly, I’d love to walk through the immense set constructed for Frances McDormand and Bill Murray’s house. This cross section of a life sized cottage is fantastic! Picture Steve Zissou’s ship on land. That the house is much bigger on the inside than the outside is a nice joke, too. It must be great to be a set constructor on a Wes Anderson movie. You get to build such wonderful things. The set dressers, too, must love working for him. Every prop, every background detail, every color, is meticulously curated. There are no happy accidents in these movies. It’s like a Steely Dan record. Every second is planned. Anderson must go through a whole lot of storyboards.
The flattened perspectives and symmetrical framing are here, too, especially the Khaki Scout tents. Lovely stuff. The look of “Moonrise Kingdom” is excellent. The child actors, as noted, are doing that precocious affect-less delivery. Bill Murray is even less present than usual. Frances McDormand, I will never say a word against, but this is a very small part. Smaller still is Tilda Swinton’s, and I always welcome anything with Tilda Swinton in it. Here, not much more than a cameo. But still. Ed Norton is probably best, doing the hapless scout leader. Bruce Willis is in full hangdog mode, and really, almost anybody could do his part. He’s not bad, not particularly good, just there.
So. Is “Moonrise Kingdom” good? Well, it’s no “Grand Budapest Hotel” and not close to “Tenenbaums” either. About on a level with “The Life Aquatic” or “Darjeeling”. If you like this stuff and aren't overly annoyed by twee or the sort of heightened unreality Anderson specializes in, I’d go for it. I wouldn’t make it your introduction to Andersoniana. Do “Budapest” first, and if you like that (and you should) then start doing the back catalog. This one is a very slight comedy, but if you like it wry, try it. It’s short, too. And actually could have done with being a little shorter, some scenes drag towards the end.
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Customer reviews
My mom doesn't love me anymore, but that's ok because I watched this movie, and now colors aren't dull and I don't have to clutch my fists at different intervals to keep the devil at bay.
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Agnostic Duck
A comedy? Quirky and offbeat certainly.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 13, 2014Barron
Quirky, not worth watching
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 19, 2020Ektor
Sweet, witty and weirdly affecting
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Scaroth, Last of the Jagaroth
The Moon also Rises
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 12, 2013
