Decent, not as good as his past films

Rating: 6/10 (14 June 2012)

I'm a big Wes Anderson fan, but this definitely wasn't his finest work. It was amusing enough, I'm not saying it was terrible, just disappointing. Not on par with Rushmore/Darjeeling Limited/Life Aquatic at all. Nothing really funny in it or particularly dramatic (the ending was a bit corny), all of his other movies had some really clever subtle humor. There just didn't seem to be much going on. Underdeveloped plots like Frances McDormand cheating on Bill Murray with Bruce Willis, I feel more could have been done with that but ultimately not much happened. Some of the darkness from his earlier films could have worked great there. Edward Norton's character had potential as well but he ultimately did not have much to do. The writing just came off as lazy.
The dialog between the two kids I couldn't buy either. I know Wes has his own unique dialog and tone, which is why I love all of his other movies, but it just didn't work with 12 year olds. None of it was particularly sharp either. There just wasn't enough going on. There was a particular shot of the two kids looking at each other on the beach that felt like hipster bait. One positive I will say is the kids had some sweet moments and did have chemistry. Anyways, I hope others enjoyed this more than I did.