Don’t get
me wrong, I have never had anything but respect for Wes Anderson. It grew even
more when I saw his rendition of Fantastic Mr. Fox. I mean, wow. Seriously,
wow. That was something. But this… This is just… I am not known for being
caught short for words but I am actually having trouble describing this film.
It is categorically the sweetest film I have ever seen with the best examples
of absurd comedy and caricatures that I have ever seen. You can neither get
“into” the film and be swept away by it nor can you help sympathizing
completely with the characters and getting caught up in it emotionally. I mean,
I kid you not, this film bends time it’s that exciting. And yet you’re always
an outsider looking in – and you feel it very clearly. How does this come
about? Let me try and explain as best I can…
Sam Shatusky
and Susy Bishop are lovers. There seems to be nothing wrong with this statement
in itself. The thing is, they are 12. Ok, you may say, a bit young, but still,
nothing wrong. The thing is though, neither Sam nor Susy are exactly your
average 12 year-olds. They are both, in their own ways, problem children. To
the point that their families, friends (well, acquaintances anyway) and their
teachers alike are unsure what to do with them. Sam and Susy however, being
problematic yet not stupid, come up with a simple solution. Elope, find a place
to live, start a new life together far, far away. Which again would be
completely fine if they were not 12. As they are 12, however, once our lovers
elope, the entire population of the small town they live in comes out in force
to look for them. In the process, of
course, quite a few dirty secrets start to see the light of day… It turns out,
in fact that our “normal” little town may not be quite as normal as they make
themselves out to be.
One thing
here is absolutely certain. Anderson has captured the absolute essence of
“awkwardness”. This is not some “cutie” story of young romance, people. It
talks of being out of place, sticking out, of being alone. It talks of being
surrounded by people who never quite understand. It does this in absurd looking ways
sometimes, but the emotions the situations end up conveying clearly, very
clearly, leap in straight from real life.
As I said,
Anderson uses every trick in the book, every technical gimmick possible to make
us feel like “spectators”. But this works brilliant with this particular story,
because this is exactly how Susy and Sam feel. Spectators. Outsiders. Not
allowed to join in and not sure why. Like I said, you would have to be made of
stone not to know exactly what Anderson is talking about here. He has literally
taken the emotions out of the emotional field and slapped them onto a screen.
And this, boys and girls, does not happen that often.
And I mean.
What a cast. Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Bill Muray, Frances McDormand and
Tilda Swindon are all superb. But Kara Hayword who plays Susy and Jared Gilman
who plays Sam, who happen to be completely novice actors also definitely
deserve a mention. I will risk sounding like a complete old hack and say it is
that “raw” quality to their acting that makes them stand out, as opposed to the
confidence exuded by some child-stars that makes them seem just that tiny bit
unrealistic no matter how good they are. Not only do they work absolutely
brilliantly together, but they succeed completely in realistically “being”
their characters. I have a feeling they will go far.
This is not
a film for the ex-cheerleaders and football jocks among us. This is a film about
how it felt to be, well, all the rest of us. On the outside. I am confident you
will love this film. Please, please don’t miss it.
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