Moonrise Kingdom

Rating: 5/10 (23 July 2016)

I knew about this film because it was available in Blockbuster in the last few months before it closed down, and I knew it had an all- star cast, so I hoped it might be good, directed by Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Grand Budapest Hotel). Basically set in 1965 in New Penzance, an island in New England, twelve-year-old Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) has left a note for Khaki Scout Troop 55 Master Randy Ward (Edward Norton), that he has voluntarily left, the troop is stationed at Camp Ivanhoe at Fort Lebanon, and he is resigning from the scouts. It is only following this incident that Master Ward finds out that Sam is an orphan in the foster care system, this information was not included within Sam's file, and this event puts Sam's status within the social services system in jeopardy. It is revealed that Sam has run away and reunited with twelve-year-old island resident Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward), they met previously during a church performance and became pen pals, their relationship became romantic over time, they made a secret pact to reunite and run away together, they have set up camp in a secluded cove on the island, which they name Moonrise Kingdom. Master Ward and all of Khaki Scout Troop 55 go on a quest to search for the missing Sam, a task which evokes mixed emotions for the troop members, most of them do not like Sam and see him as emotionally disturbed, the incident is also reported to the Police Department, Captain Duffy Sharp (Bruce Willis) leads the search. Married lawyers Walt (Bill Murray) and Laura Bishop (Frances McDormand) are also concerned for their daughter Suzy, the oldest and only daughter of their four offspring, as she is missing, but they find the link through love letters that she and Sam are together. With Sam's scouting knowledge, for camping and fishing, and Suzy's plentiful stock of supplies, including food and tools, they are able to elude their trackers for quite a while, the large group are on their trail, but they come to understand Sam and Suzy's individual and combined situations, and how close they really are. Also starring Tilda Swinton as Social Services, Jason Schwartzman as Cousin Ben, Harvey Keitel as Commander Pierce, Bob Balaban as The Narrator, Larry Pine as Mr. Billingsley and Liz Callahan as Mrs. Billingsley. The cast all play their parts fine, there are certainly many suitably eccentric characters, and the story is fairly simple to follow, I agree the young love story does falter a little bit, but there are an ample amount laughs to keep you watching, it is an interesting enough coming-of- age comedy drama film. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay for Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola (Francis Ford Coppola's son), it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical. Worth watching, at least once, in my opinion!