Super Frat

Wes Anderson’s new movie is gorgeous to look at, entertaining to watch, but doesn’t have the punch of a lot of his other movies.  Maybe it’s unfair to compare this movie to his previous hits, but for me, The Royal Tenenbaums really comes together, but Moonrise Kingdom falls short.  The first act is dead on.  Sam is a scout in 1965.  He’s also a troubled kid, orphan and self-reliant scout.  He falls in love with Suzy, a girl living in a home with a troubled marriage (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand).  Together, they run away and the adults have to hunt them down.

Edward Norton plays the ineffectual scout master and Bruce Willis the only cop on the island.  Probably the best scene is when Jason Schwartzman shows up as the scout jamboree guy that runs the supply tent.  Harvey Keitel has a small role as the lead scout master that’s kind of cool.  Ultimately, it feels like the cast is underused.  There’s a lot of details about the kids, which is great, but not so much on the adults.  It’s kind of weird, because there are some payoffs with the adults and because we don’t have the detailed background about them, they fall kind of flat.

Sam and Suzy are fun to watch, but not as fun as, say, Jason Schwartzman in Rushmore.  I would say, most of the good scenes are in the trailer and that this is more of a rental.  I give Moonrise Kingdom 7 out of 10 keggers.