Wes Anderson is a director with a very distinctive style. He is very fond of dolly shots where the camera moves along a track during a scene as a character moves around or from character to character in the one place. His comedy style is a very deadpan one as well. His characters behave in a very uniform way but with funny results. I have long been a fan of his since his first film 'Rushmore'. This film is very much in that style. He also returns to younger characters. Suzy and Sam might be 12 years-old but their minds are much older. The way they escape their adult minders is quite clever and very funny. The film is very self contained to a small island area but does provide many humorous scenes. I can understand how some people might find the characters a bit silly, but that is part of the fun of a Wes Anderson film. There are some pretty wacky characters here but they are really funny, especially the children.
Wes has assembled and excellent ensemble cast for this film. Edward Norton does not do comedy all that often but he certainly has a knack for it. He is very funny as the scout leader who gets into trouble for letting Sam get away. Bruce Willis is mostly known for his big action films but he can do great performances in smaller films as well. I think this is one of his best. His character feels the most real amongst the wackier ones around him. Frances McDormand is brilliant as always. So is Wes Anderson regular Bill Murray. Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwatzman, Harvey Keitel and Bob Balaban have small but very funny roles. Especially Bob as an hilarious narrator. The real delight though is Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman as the two love birds. Both are brilliant in their roles and handle Wes's deadpan style really well.
This might not be to everyone's taste, but if you like your comedies a little quirkier and different then you should check it out.
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