'MOONRISE KINGDOM'

'MOONRISE KINGDOM' (PG-13) (3 1/2 STARS)

Written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
Directed by Wes Anderson
Actors: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton,Bob Balaban,,
Jason Schwartzman, Harvey Keitel

When kids are young, most kids don't tolerate other children who are different so those different and strange kids have to find each other. Kids who are creative, quieter, more studious and more eccentric get picked on and don't get understood. With that being said I am glad that Sam met Suzy because sometime your soulmate can be your only friend and all you need is two people to start building a friendship with. Sam and Suzy are two characters at the center of one of my favorite movies in a very long time, Wes Anderson's delightful "Moonrise Kingdom". Suzy and Sam's unique and naive love is one of the best love stories I have seen in a decade. Wes Anderson is back at the top of his game with one of his unique type of movies that made me come out of the theatre feeling rejuvenated!

Sam is part of a group of Boy Scouts led by Scoutmaster Ward played by a very funny Edward Norton. Sam is a loner and all the other kids in the scout group pick on him because he is a little weird. I see Sam much differently because I have been in his shoes but someone like Suzy understands him very well. Suzy is a very introspective, quiet, dark and depressed girl but she needed someone like Sam. In a sweet, touching and funny early scene Sam comes into Suzy's dressing room as she is preparing for a play and points to her because he likes her. They run away and Ward's scouting control is now messed with and Suzy's cold parents, two academic intellectuals, don't seem too fazed. Sam is an orphan and his foster parents don't want him back anyway either.

"Moonrise Kingdom" has two central characters who are eccentric and different and I love both of them. Suzy is played by Kara Hayward and Sam is played by Jared Gilman and they are both wonderful. I am afraid Hayward will get the same flack that Kristen Stewart gets for playing a dark and gloomy girl. She is a natural and has a future and Jared Gilman is funny and effective as Sam. Bill Murray and Frances McDormand play Suzy's parents and they are both funny and great particularly Murray in another one of his classic and effective goof characters that just don't care. Edward Norton is fantastic and funny as Ward without showing us he is acting. Jason Schwartzman and Bruce Willis are also amazing here and Willis's character will have a huge effect on Sam as we will find out later in the movie.

You have two wonderful stories here, the young love story of two lost souls who find each other and a father/son like story that I won't spoil here with my review. This is another one of Wes Anderson's quirky movies that can be an acquired taste and I love his movies when he is at the top of his game. Nowadays there have been so many Wes Anderson movies that they don't feel new or different anymore. It took me three viewings of his classic masterpiece "Rushmore" to discover it was easily the best movie of 1998. He lost his way with his favorite fans and critics with the maligned " The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou" and "The Darjeeling Limited". I did not care for the pretentious "Life Aquatic" but I really did like "the Darjeeling Limited". Anyway, Wes Anderson is one of the most original writers and directors we have these days and "Moonrise Kingdom" is one of the most pleasing and original movies I have seen in months and months!

This movie hit me and pleased me so much because I love originality and writing that is creative. The screenplay by Anderson and Roman Coppola is a master class in original, smart and uniquely funny writing. The movie is also beautifully shot and it looks so original. The music is perfect, the 1965 set recreations and costumes are perfectly realized and the movie is just plain, consistently funny. The acting is pitch perfect and effective and all these actors are given such great material. I especially love the acting by Hayward and Gilman and Norton, Murray and Willis are at the top of their game. I just love how little details of this movie come off as brilliant and creative.

There are a few novels in this movie that Sam and Suzy read from and instead of Anderson and Coppola using real novels from the 60's they have fictional books made up with original book covers that are artistically beautiful. Now that is someone who is trying hard to give us something new, forceful, creative and touching instead of just phoning it in like everyone in Hollywood seems to be doing now. It is a delightful, strange and very touching movie that has pure moments of genius, beauty and offbeat charm. It is something fresh and beautiful and it is also easily the best movie of 2012 so far.