Ed's Review Dot Com

Indian Paintbrush, American Empirical Pictures, Moonrise,

Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Jason Schwartzman, Bob Balaban, Harvey Keitel

Sam (Jared Gilman) is a Khaki Scout of on an island in New England at a scout camp. Suzy (Kara Hayward) is a lonely girl who loves to read and looks at life through binoculars. The two of them decide to set off on an adventure and run away to follow an old trail around the island setting of a panic among the scout troop run by Scout Master Ward (Ed Norton) and with the town folk lead by Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis). The two decide to elope and get married while an epic storm bears down on the island.

This film by Wes Anderson is, like all of his film is kind of weird. For this reason, even though it’s still in theaters, it’s kind of hard to find and did not get really wide release. But it’s definitely a worthwhile film. It reminds me a lot of the Lemony Snickett’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” or Louis Sacher’s “Wayside school” series of books. It’s very quirky and was made in the same manner. Shot on 16mm film, it’s got a real weird vibe to it. But it’s a really cute growing up film, and a touching romance between these two young people. It’s puppy love at it’s best with a great cast and a sweet story.

The film is set in the year 1965 although it could be almost anytime. It’s set on a fictional island, and the colors are drab and brown and beige through most of the film (with a few exceptions) which adds to the mood a lot. Though very strange, it feels oddly comfortable in a way. Throughout the story Suzy reads from her collection of children’s books, and it feels as though the kids are living their own children’s book as the pass through this adventure.

Now this film is definitely not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, that’s a given. A lot of people will hate it. But if you’ve got an interest in a very off-beat unusual movie with a harmless story of innocence, this is it. If you liked Polar Express or Where the Wild Things Are, this is very similar in feel to both of those films. For me, I enjoyed it.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog