RBR: Moonrise Kingdom

It may surprise some of you, given my love for movies, that Moonrise Kingdom was my first entry into the Wes Anderson universe. The only other film of his that I've seen is Fantastic Mr. Fox, which doesn't exactly fit into the mold of his typical films. If you've seen Anderson's work, then you know to expect a strange, yet beguiling story filled to the max with quirky character. This one centers around a geeky young boy and a disillusion young girl who meet and run off together abandoning their boy scout troop and family, respectively. I found the first half of the film to be wholly enchanting. The relationship between the two protagonists as they go on their journey is sweet and charming while the laughs come from the adults who go on the hunt to find them. This includes Frances McDormand and Bill Murray as the girl's parents, Bruce Willis as the town's sheriff, and Edward Norton as the boy scout troop leader. There's a lot of fun in watching the kids act grown up while the adults have some serious arrested development issues. If the entire film had been the chase for these kids, this would have been a great movie. However, the kids are discovered midway through and the film has difficulty in continuing the story past that point. Things turn even more bizarre and surreal in the second half and a second escape by the kids isn't nearly as engaging. Those who enjoy Anderson's work will no doubt love this latest effort but I think it is worth seeing even if you are a neophyte to his work like I was. It appears I may have to play catch up now and start watching some of his older stuff to see if I've been missing out all of these years. Rating: **** 1/4