A Kingdom You'll Definitely Want To Visit

Rating: 8/10 (11 June 2012)

"Moonrise Kingdom" is one of the best times you'll have at the movies this year. It's a delightfully offbeat comedy drama superbly acted by a great ensemble cast headed by Bruce Willis as the mild mannered sheriff of a small New England town who's called upon to help in a frantic search for two pre-teen runaways played by Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward. Gilman is escaping his life as a social outcast at a summer camp and Hayward wants to distance herself from her dysfunctional parents hilariously played by Bill Murray and Frances McDormand. Tilda Swinton is great as a Dickensian Social Worker. Edward Norton is a clueless scout master and Harvey Keitel is a Pattonesque scout commander. "Moonrise Kingdom" somewhat reminded me of films like "Raising Arizona" and "Fargo" with their eccentric characters and slightly surreal take on life. Audiences seem to have responded well and turned this film into one of the indie hits of 2012.