Wes Anderson true to form

Rating: 8/10 (25 October 2012)

If you enjoyed the previous three feature length non animation movies written and directed by Wes Anderson, you'll like this one for sure. For those who are not familiar with 'The Darjeeling Limited', 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou' or 'The Royal Tenenbaums', keep in mind that these are not your run of the mill comedies. First, Wes Anderson picks his actors for the punch they can bring to a light comedy. Second, the stories are focused on the development of characters that are portrayed more like caricatures than the real-like persons they are. Finally he makes you reflect on points or moral dilemmas that border on the banal, not all that unusual events, that the audience can follow. The flow of the movie is usually deliberately syncopated for effect. The comedy lies between the drama you can't take seriously and the 'quirkyness' that is not hysterical. That, to me is the charm of Wes Anderson's movies. I enjoy his movies much like I do licorice; I can go for it on very sparse occasion and it will bring me real satisfaction, but I'd get to dislike it if I were to have some more frequently.
Here, the story pushes the bounds to somewhere I was a little surprised to see on the big screen; and that was the main characters, Suzy and Sam, played admirably by Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman, playing middle school age kids, at odds with their peers, discovering sex as they are so drawn to each other. The fugue from their guardians is the backdrop to the character development of the two leads, as well as their guardians and those in society responsible for their well-being. Edward Norton and Harvey Keitel, in their respective roles of a scout master and scout commander, delightfully provide that punch I mentioned earlier. As for Bruce Willis, who plays Captain Sharp like I knew he could play so well, he delivers a convincing performance when he has a 'heart to heart' with Sam; this is one of the highlights, of which there are several in this movie. If you do not like this movie, and I see from user reviews you won't be alone, it's because Anderson has a unique style; if you do like it and have not seen the previous three I named above, I recommend you rent one or all of them.