Moonrise Kingdom

Two twelve year old's run away from home and its left to the occupants of the small island to find them before Hurricane Mabel hits...

The story revolves around the love story between two twelve year old's, who decide to run away from their respective homes and go in search of adventure on the tiny island they call home. It's left up to the people of the small town to find the young love birds, before the worst storm of the century hits.

A group of boy scouts, their scoutmaster, two fighting lawyers, a police chief and a pilot who brings in the mail, face the difficult task of tracking down the pair before a tropical storm does its best to obliterate the town.

Throw into this mix, a fighting couple, an affair, an emotionally unstable orphan who is shunted from one home to the next, a church choir production and a scout Jamboree and you have the perfect combination for the ultimate adventure.

Without a doubt this is the finest film I have had the privilege to watch in 2012. This is a perfect combination of inspired casting, brilliant writing and one of the nicest stories I have seen on film in many years. The script is a serious one, touching on some fairly heavy topics, but with a lightness and sensitivity that often has the audience in stitches.

Bruce Willis was an inspired choice as "Captain Sharp", the sole member of the police force on the island, giving one of the best performances of his long and distinguished career, and reminded me so much at times of a rather famous "Officer John McClane", probably his best known character. Willis plays an emotionally tormented policeman who has lost the only love of his life, but finds a purpose in life in the most unlikely of places.

Bill Murray and Francis McDormand are truly superb as "Walt and Laura Bishop", an uncomfortably married couple, whose daughter is one of the missing children. Both give tremendous, comedic yet, strangely moving performances and are the true back-bone of the film. Edward Norton is sublime as the disorganized, yet caring "Scout Master Ward". He brings just the right amount of seriousness to the film, while at the same time being laugh out loud funny. This is one giant turn around from his 1 minute cameo in the recent hit "The Dictator".

Tilda Swinton is a great addition as the very convincing "Social Services", an inspired name which hits her role in the film, firmly on the head. She gives a droll and dramatic performance that is perfectly suited to the film, while Harvey Keitel makes his first showing since 2010 as Chief Scout, "Commander Pierce" in a truly special performance.

The true stars however of this tremendous film, are also ironically the youngest in the cast. Kara Hayward gives a truly great showing as the young "Suzy", showing a maturity far beyond her young years. Jared Gilman, gives a truly genius performance in his first motion picture in the lead role of the young orphan, "Sam". The on screen chemistry is very believable, while at the same time being touching and innocent.

The film, goes at an excellent pace for all of its 94 minutes, and has enough laughs to keep even the most hardened comedy fan happy. There are the odd uncomfortable moments, but these fit perfectly well in the awesome, Wes Anderson written script. This movie is inspiring, and moving, yet has an innocence about it that we don't see in movies anymore.

Bravo! I really do hope the members of the academy watch this one.

9/10