What Am I Missing Here?

Rating: 3/10 (21 November 2012)

This is the third Wes Anderson Movie I have seen, and for the life of me I can't figure out why so many people praise his films. They seem to me to be adult (sort of) live action cartoons. This one has played to critical acclaim and audiences seem to mostly love it. The story is about a rather nerdy 12 year old boy living in a foster home, and a girl from a large family who, also 12, has some typical tween issues with her rather clueless parents. The two run away together, him from the khaki scouts, and her from home, and sort of get married. The cast is first rate, including Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Bruce Willis, and Edward Norton, all of whom are one dimensional caricatures, as are virtually all the kids and supporting adults. I don't know what to classify this movie as. If it's a drama, it has little real tension. If it is a comedy, it is mostly broad and cartoon like. Everyone speaks in exclamations, but with dour tone, saying their lines using complex language extremely rapidly, often in back and forth banter. I wanted to like this film because I usually love films about kids and their problems growing up in dysfunctional families, but this one undercuts any genuine emotion, and the only scene that was sensitive was when the two leads kissed. Very disappointing, but I gave it 3 stars because I did chuckle some and stayed to the end.