Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

A pair of young lovers flee their New England town, which causes a local search party to fan out to find them.

Director:

Wes Anderson

Writers:

Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola

Stars:

Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 36 wins & 121 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Willis	...	Captain Sharp
Edward Norton	...	Scout Master Ward
Bill Murray	...	Mr. Bishop
Frances McDormand	...	Mrs. Bishop
Tilda Swinton	...	Social Services
Jared Gilman	...	Sam
Kara Hayward	...	Suzy
Jason Schwartzman	...	Cousin Ben
Bob Balaban	...	The Narrator
Lucas Hedges	...	Redford
Charlie Kilgore	...	Lazy-Eye
Andreas Sheikh	...	Panagle
Chandler Frantz	...	Gadge
Rob H. Campbell	...	Deluca (as Rob Campbell)
L.J. Foley	...	Izod

Storyline

Set on an island off the coast of New England in the 1960s, as a young boy and girl fall in love they are moved to run away together. Various factions of the town mobilize to search for them and the town is turned upside down - which might not be such a bad thing.

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Plot Keywords:

young love | boy scouts camp | storm | search party | 1960s | 

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Taglines:

A tormenting and surprising story of children and adults during the stormy days of the summer of 1965.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and smoking

Did You Know?

Trivia

While Suzy's books in the movie are fake, "Noye's Fludde" is a real 1957 opera by Benjamin Britten. The text is based on an edition by Alfred W. Pollard of an early fifteenth century mystery play from the Chester Mystery Cycle. The opera is written to be performed by a cast primarily of amateurs, and Britten requested it be performed in a church or a large hall, but not in a theatre. Hence, why it is being done by children in a church.

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Goofs

When Cousin Ben is talking to Sam and Suzy as they walk through the camp, a marching scout extra in the background can be seen looking and waving at the camera.

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Quotes

Walt Bishop: Our daughter's been abducted by one of these beige lunatics!

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Crazy Credits

During the final credits, Alexandre Desplat's music is vocally decomposed, like it was for the piece of classical music during the movie.

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Connections

References Charulata (1964)

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Soundtracks

Songs from Friday Afternoons, Op. 7 (Old Abram Brown)
Composed by Benjamin Britten
(1935)

User Reviews

Innocent, beautiful and brilliant fun

Despite the dreadful title, Moonrise Kingdom is simply wonderful.

Since his flying start with Bottle Rocket and the triumph of Rushmore, I felt that Wes Anderson had rather tottered off a true path. The Royal Tenenbaums was hit and miss, The Darjeeling Limited was too twee, and The Life Aquatic was simply AWFUL. I take against ANY film that wastes Bill Murray.

Moonrise Kingdom doesn't repeat that error. Despite covering ground Anderson's already visited to an extent in Rushmore, MK looks at a teenage crush with fresh eyes, and surrounds it with a fantastic cast of oddballs and misfits. Unlike his films where the characters are irritatingly quirky for the sake of it, these oddballs seem organic to their strange island home. Star among them is Ed Norton as Scout Master Ward, who looks as if he's having the time of his life in shorts and woggles, in charge of a troop described as 'beige lunatics'.

Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand and Bill Murray all play their parts but never feel as though they're elbowing for the spotlight, which keeps the mood kind, befitting the hearts of all involved in the search for runaway scout, Sam, and his pen-pal, Suzy.

Visually, it's a feast of saturated colour and fabulous design, but - as with the best of Wes Anderson - the devil's always in the detail. The laughs come from minutely observed accessories (keep an eye on the scouts' badges!) and from throwaway truths. And the soundtrack is a great mix of wistful Western and classical pieces. Definitely buyable.

Anderson flirts with surrealism, but never gets Burtonesque, controlling his story with a firmer hand and to better effect. His situations might be bizarre, but the people in them are always painfully, wonderfully human. It's also a rare film - one you could watch with your grandmother or your grandchildren, with only a couple of moments where young eyes would have to be covered, and no real violence or swearing.

There is an overwhelming feeling of innocence and good will throughout.

I loved it from the opening frames, and it only got better from there.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 June 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Moonrise Kingdom

Filming Locations:

Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$522,996, 27 May 2012

Gross USA:

$45,512,466

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$68,264,022

Company Credits

Production Co:

Indian Paintbrush, American Empirical Pictures, Moonrise

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1