Moonrise Kingdom

Is there a more idiosyncratic film director in the world today than Wes Anderson? I can’t think of any other director at the moment where you could show someone a one minute clip of their latest film and, aside from Anderson, confidently say who was sat in the head honcho’s chair. Anderson is out on his own in this particular area. The thing about Anderson’s style though is that it is an acquired taste. Personally, I’m not over enamoured with it myself, but there must always be room for artists such as himself.  It’s come to the stage with Anderson now though that reviewing one of his films is almost a waste of time. If you like him you’ll like this, if you don’t this won’t convert you. What I will say though is that, whilst this has the usual ensemble cast (with a number of Wes regulars turning up) and framing and colour palette that we’ve come to expect, this is actually one of the more straight forward Anderson story lines. Though the dysfunctional family element is there as usual, it’s kept to the background as the film concentrates on telling the story of two 12 year olds Sam and Suzy (played by unknowns Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward, respectively) who run away from their New England island town prompting a search from the local scout group (headed up by Edward Norton with a performance full of surprising emotion), parents and police. Child performances can be hit and miss, but Anderson gets a good return from both Gilman and Hayward along with a number of other younger stars in the film. The 1960’s setting is superbly realised with a look of cool detachment that Anderson loves to have in his films and, technically, this is as impressive an Anderson film as he’s ever done though, but like a gallery that has a framed picture of a blank sheet of A4, you’ll do well to convince sceptics that this is art over arse.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
The usual Anderson production. Add a mark if you’re a fan, take one off if you’re not. Rating: 6/10.