If there's something more I enjoy more than the big blockbusters ("The Avengers"? Hell yes!) during Summer Blockbuster Season, it's the fabled sleeper hit. This is a movie that is an independent film that is being shown in a quarter of the theaters the blockbuster is being shown in that cracks the Top Ten at the box office and shows up many of the bigger films.
Last year's sleeper film was "The Help". This year? It's "Moonrise Kingdom". Currently being shown in less than 900 theaters in the US (in comparison, "The Amazing Spider-Man" this weekend is in more than 4,000 theaters), and it is currently making quite a bit of money. After seeing it finally, I can see why.
It's Summer on a sleepy New England island, 1965. Young love is in the air when Khaki Scout Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) devises a plan to run away with his crush Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward). When this happens, all hell breaks loose. Town sheriff Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis) is trying to search for the missing children while Mr and Mrs Bishop (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand) keep intervening when they shouldn't be, Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton) is trying to keep the rest of the scouts in line, and the rest of the scouts are taking the word manhunt to its literal translation -- all while a huge tropical storm is about to hit the small island community.
Director Wes Anderson ("Rushmore", "The Darjeeling Limited"), who co-wrote the movie with Roman Coppola ("The Darjeeling Limited") to make the darkest comedic tale of young love out there. Of course, twisted romance really isn't anything new for Wes Anderson. He did create "Rushmore" after all. But like "Rushmore", Anderson's penchant for making enigmatic romances amidst dark times only makes you root for the protagonists that much more.
The cast is brilliant. Including appearances from Anderson veteran Jason Schwartzman as Cousin Ben and Tilda Swinton as Social Services, performances from the likes of Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, and Edward Norton. But it's newcomers Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward that shine the brightest here. Keeping up with the likes of Willis and Norton is no easy task, and these youngsters are amazing. I can definitely foresee long careers for both of them.
"Moonrise Kingdom" is darkly hilarious on the surface, but a sweet, endearing love story at its core. The love that Sam and Sally have for each other is brave and strangely hypnotic. Sure, they're both not quite teenagers yet, but that doesn't stop them from allowing the other person to love them for all their traits and flaws. Both are labelled as having emotional problems by the people who surround them, but, when together, they are fearless and protective of each other, which makes their love less immature than it would appear. Hollywood movies don't have this kind of conviction. Show me a movie where Meg Ryan shanks a guy in the kidney with a pair of left-handed scissors to protect Tom Hanks, and we'll talk. Until then, this movie is one of a kind.
FINAL VERDICT: In a Summer Blockbuster Season as amazing as this, "Moonrise Kingdom" is the sleeper hit this season deserves. Wes Anderson knocks it out of the park yet again with an amazing original tale of true love and the adventures it sends us on. Sure, you can make the argument that it's only young love, but, much like the film's young protagonists, the film is much more mature than it would seem.
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