Watched: Moonrise Kingdom
Observations:
- This film was boring.
- Let me embellish that a little: my two favourite Wes Anderson films are The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and The Darjeeling Limited, both because they use Anderson’s style to get across quite a complex notion - that of meditative calm brought on by failure and disconnection from the lives of others. Anderson’s palette is warm hues, long stares, and characters who bend reality with their dialogue. Here, it feels like he’s trying to attempt something far more simplistic - demonstrating the love between two children - and it doesn’t quite work.
- That’s not to say that the two leads (Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward) aren’t interesting to watch; they are. But in terms of establishing just the right amount of chemistry to convince, they fall a little short.
- The music in this, too, bordered on intrusive, used to fill gaps in the name of being clever rather than actually being effective. There are no Here’s To You moments in this.
- I’m probably being a little harsh. The adult cast are all perfectly lovely (though Murray is really ringing the tired, jaded old man act in by now), and a recurring setpiece involving a performance of Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde is fascinating and apocalyptic to watch. Die-hard Wes Anderson fans will probably love this. I’m just not one, so don’t.
- I’m immediately following this with Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, making this evening the most absurd double bill ever attempted.
