Moonrise Kingdom: Varying degrees of nostalgia..

 If you've never seen a Wes Anderson film before, brace yourself, you just may not enjoy it. I'm going to go out on a limb and say you better be good friends with the intellectual side of your brain. You need to be able to appreciate the small things in his movies, particularly with the main characters involved. There's definitely a dry humor at work not only in this film but his previous films, and if you can dig in to such wit, I'm sure you'll thoroughly enjoy the film.

Having said that, this is an intriguing film all around, regardless of the notes it may or may not hit on with humor. I also feel like it's the kind of film you must see more than a few times to pick up on all the subtle nuances that are on the screen. To sum up the plot, a boy named Sam, who is apart of a boy-scout platoon, goes missing and all in the name of falling in love with a local girl. The visuals and aura are what make this film work for me, along with some very convincing acting all around. There's also added charm by setting this film in the 60's, and getting to see the characters in an environment where one is not picking up their Iphone every 40 seconds to see if another character in the film messaged them. You may even find yourself getting nostalgic for a time when we all didn't have quite as many distractions and were able to be in the moment with those around us; much like you'll see with the characters of this film.

The acting is solid all-around. Ed Norton plays the boy scout platoon leader, Scout Master Ward. Bill Murray plays the father of Suzy, who flees with Sam. Bruce Willis plays the cop in this local New England town, named Captain Sharp, and I must mention the ageless Bob Balaban, who narrates the film at different points in the beginning and end. I'm beginning to think he (Balaban) never ages.
Last but not least, the film would never have worked if not for the acting chops of the two young lovers, played by Kara Hayward, and Jared Gilman. There's some key moments in the first leg of the film where they're isolated together, by a lake, and their chemistry works. It's just that simple.

Overall, if you want a nice escape into a world that not only doesn't exist anymore being that it's the 2000s, but also because it's a world that only Wes Anderson could create in his films, give this one a try.

Nuff said