Moonrise Kingdom

Even though Moonrise Kingdom is set in a specific time (1965, to be exact), it exists in a world that could only come from Wes Anderson, the mind behind Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Fantastic Mr. Fox. His whimsical and almost deadpan absurd humor can be found throughout the film, as can his visual creativity. But what sets this one apart from most of his films is that it has a much bigger heart than most of them. This is easily his most human and affectionate film yet.

The story is set on a New England island, where 12-year-old Eagle scout Sam (Jared Gilman) decides to put all his hopes and dreams on a young girl he met just one year before. She is Suzy (Kara Hayward), a girl who sometimes seems wise beyond her years, but still has a sense of childish wonder, and enjoys getting lost in fantasy and sci-fi novels. The two are both tired of living in a world run by adults. Sam is an orphan, living with foster parents who see him as a burden. Suzy is still living with her birth parents (played by Anderson regular, Bill Murray, and Frances McDormand, respectively) and siblings, but is unhappy. Her parents and brothers don't understand her, and her dad even sees her as a "troubled child". During the middle of summer in 1965, the two decide to elope, and run off together, leaving the adult world behind. Suzy leaves behind her stifling home life, while Sam runs off in the middle of a Scout camping trip, leaving his scoutmaster (Edward Norton) to organize a searching party made up of the other kids in the troop, who aren't very fond of Sam, and don't really care if they find him.

Sam and Suzy meet in the woods, each bringing what they need for survival - He brings all of his wilderness gear, she brings her binoculars, some books, a portable record player, and a kitten which she carries in a basket. As they pitch their tents and prepare to live a life of freedom in the wild, Suzy's parents and the scoutmaster hire a local Sheriff (Bruce Willis) to help track them down. As the search intensifies, and Sam and Suzy begin to get closer together, a wandering Narrator (Bob Balaban) shows up now and then to remind us that a huge storm is approaching the island, and that eventually, all the people in this story will be brought together in some way. The fun all lies not in the story itself, but in the way that Anderson and co-writer Roman Coppola tell it.

In Moonrise Kingdom, we get a simple story told in a way we never imagined. Anderson fills the movie with countless visual gags, that somehow escape the attention of the characters surrounding them, and that's part of the fun. His humor has a way of having the joke looking us right in the eye, yet we sometimes almost miss it, because his characters are so nonchalant, and treat the bizarre as ordinary. Homes resemble giant dollhouses, a massive house teeters dangerously within the branches of a tree, and the children in Sam's scout troop bring hatchets and giant knives in their search for the missing children, just in case they resist being brought back to camp. The actors and their performances do not call attention to these details, and that's the way it should be. The characters exist in their own world. For them, it's normal. We laugh first at the bizarre visual, and then laugh at the fact that everyone else is so casual about it.

And yet, all of its silly humor does not seem to have a hint of irony to it. That's what makes this film work as well as it does. It doesn't treat its humor as absurd, but as mundane. This allows the movie to focus on where it should - the heartfelt relationship that slowly begins to build between Sam and Suzy. They are innocents on the cusp of becoming teenagers, where they will be forced to enter the adult world, slowly but surely. Maybe they see this as their last chance to hold onto that innocence. The film's tone is that of sweet nostalgia, with soft colors and focus. This creates the perfect mood for Anderson's simple story, as well as puts us in the right mindset for the world the movie inhabits.

I know of some people who do not enjoy Anderson's sense of humor, and Moonrise Kingdom likely will not change their mind. But, they may find something to like at the sweet love story in the middle of it all. That's because they remain constantly at the center. For all of the absurd jokes and visual gags, it is the awakening of feelings between Sam and Suzy that carries the film. Both Gilman and Hayward and wonderful finds in the lead roles, and they bring a certain maturity to their innocence. Their chemistry is instant and unforced, and they come across as real children, not kids trying to be adults. The film has been cast beautifully throughout, but it is the central kids who wind up walking away with the movie, as well they should.

This is a wondrous movie full of imagination, feeling, and spirit. It's a transporting movie as well, taking us into its own world, and surrounding us with it for the 90 minutes or so that it runs. Moonrise Kingdom is the kind of movie you can get lost in, and just enjoy being around the characters and their lives. That alone is a wonderful thing. The movie itself is a pretty wonderful thing, as well.

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