Moonrise Kingdom

Cast: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray
Director: Wes Anderson

After many futile attempts to watch this, I finally finished Moonrise Kingdom. I wanted to watch it because I read that it was good. Plus, it was Wes Anderson so I already knew what to expect. However, after the film, my thoughts were undecisive. Did I like it? I don't know. Did I not like it? I don't know either. I understand why people raved about it, plot-wise, it was very Wes Anderson but there were some aspects just got me (for a lack of a better word) irritated.

Sam and Suzy are a pair of kids who became pen pals. In the span of their letter writing, Sam suggested running away, which Suzy agreed with. Because of this, it caused a bit of chaos in their town, particularly involving Suzy's family, the scouts and the police department. It's a bit of an adventure for them, wanting to be together and to be rebellious and all that. Plot wise, script-wise, it was good. While this may be Wes Anderson's greatest masterpiece, it doesn't do it for me.

The film is packed with a good cast: Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman are the names who make an appearance. Although they give good performances (Edward Norton and Bruce Willis in particular), I feel that they were all underutilized. Bill Murray is a staple at Wes Anderson films and I'm sure he could have done more. The film is particularly about the children, but with a good cast and not enough screen time, I think the movie could have gone a bit longer. 

I like how there is always a use of a color scheme. In every movie of his that I've seen so far, there are always colors that are standing out, and it's used to set the tone and the mood of the entire thing. Visuals were great, as usual. The script was well-written, and he brings out another good set of quirky characters to embark in an adventure about young love.

The only factor I didn't particularly like about the film are the main characters. I love how they were written but the execution failed to win me over. Suzy always looks like she forces herself to feel that same emotion the way her character was written; it doesn't seem natural. Sam, on the other hand, while he has well-written lines, he seems to get portrayed as a much younger person. They also didn't carry much emotion, considering a lot was happening during their runaway. They didn't have chemistry. I didn't feel the love they have; it all seems forced. Maybe it's just me but how the script was executed, it didn't reach my expectations.

To summarize, Moonrise Kingdom fell flat for me. I expected more from it. Maybe someday I'll look back into it and watch it the second time around. I usually do that when a film falls short of expectation and to see if my opinion of it will change. However, if I were to watch a Wes Anderson film, I don't think this will fall on the list any time soon.