Moonrise Kingdom - movie review

Release date: 25 May 2012
Certificate: 12A
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Bruce Willis

What's the story?
Two children find the course of true love doesn't necessarily run smooth when they flee their guardians on an island off the New England coast in the summer of 1965.

What did we think?
Though artificial to its core, Moonrise Kingdom nevertheless manages to pluck at the heartstrings without losing any of the deadpan drollery that has become its director's hallmark. An all-star cast gamely allow themselves to become constituent parts of his distinctive vision, while the choice of music is a constant pleasure.

Wes Anderson doesn't so much direct movies as craft them, meticulously assembling every detail and painstakingly arranging them into idiosyncratic miniatures that have his personality stamped on every frame. The downside is his films seem so composed and controlled they can feel like museum pieces that lack any sense of spontaneity or happy accident.

All of which applies to his latest, a beautifully crafted, meticulously assembled labour of love that will charm everybody who warmed to Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and Fantastic Mr Fox and infuriate all those who didn't. Luckily we are very much in the former camp, making us the perfect audience for a delightful exercise in nostalgic whimsy that left us charmed, disarmed and tickled.

At first glance there doesn't seem much at stake in this tale of a 12-year-old boy scout (Jared Gilman) who runs away from his troop to be with his bookworm beloved (Kara Hayward). With deft dry humour, though, Anderson smartly juxtaposes their startling maturity with the gormless attempts of local cop Bruce Willis, scout leader Ed Norton and Kara's self-obsessed parents (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand) to track them down, wittily proving there's no drama that can't be turned into a crisis.

Verdict: Another magnificent Anderson.