Allow me to preface this review, by saying that I have no insight into the mind of Wes Anderson whatsoever. I have only seen The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and it was a long time ago and I remember being interested, but apparently I was interested enough to watch it again or watch any other Anderson movies, until now. If I were to describe Moonrise Kingdom in one word I think I’d have to say pleasant.

While watching this unique film there were many moments where it was hard not to just smile at all the wonder and oddities. It was simple enough tale, but with wit and whimsy a love story unfolds seemingly through the eyes and innocence of a child, which is very fitting because at the heart of this tale is the blossoming love between two children, Sam and Suzy.

Moonrise Kingdom is actually at times a very real story and some of the undertones can be very serious at times, but because of the way it’s told it always feels as though we’re in one of the magical worlds in one of the books Suzy reads throughout. It makes choices and sticks with them. It’s very consistent and quite funny, but you laugh for all kinds of different reasons than you would had you been watching the average comedy that comes out these days.

Moonrise Kingdom cared more about its characters and the story it was telling and at the same time it was a funny story so the laughs just came naturally. For the most part, everything just worked and fell right into place. The casting was great especially the two main characters played by Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman. Bruce Willis was another standout in a very different role for him. All and all, behind the screen and in front of the screen, everyone was doing their job well because they created something here that is completely pleasant.

Grade: A