(Disclaimer: I believed that I had published this at least a week ago.)
Though I know most people who would love this movie have already seen it, making my review non-pertinent for previewing this film for potential moviegoers, I am glad that I waited until I moved to France to watch this film. This film is a beautiful ode to young love, such as gives me hope and a measure of excitement in the loneliness that comes from being across the ocean from almost all the people that I've known for more than two weeks. The beauty of this film is hard to overstate, so I'd like to go backwards through my criteria.
For wonder, I have given this film a 10. Here I may refer to what I often call wonder as style, because the word seems more appropriate for Anderson, who has only the rare moment of spectacle in his films. For him, set dressing to the point of obsession with minutiae and an air of pomp are far preferable to the "explosions and gunfights" moments that often give a movie wonder. Wes Anderson has, I think, perfected his sort of style in this film. I compare his overall work in this film to the difference between narrative poetry and a novella. One is not by nature better than the other, but the novella rarely gets the same kind of style points as the narrative poem, excepting the poetic prose of Fahrenheit 451. That said, the key focus of most novellas is building a story that one follows, even if the style is less than exciting. The narrative poem often has no qualms with revealing its story beforehand and "ruining" the end, as its focus is often telling an archetypal story in a new way à la Ovid's Metamorphoses. Here Anderson tells a story that is simple to follow and at times easy to predict. If you've seen Angels in the Outfield, you will see the ending coming in some respects, but you don't care. The use of music is, as always, exquisite but even more so. Set dressing in the Bishop house reminds me of the Belafonte introduction from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. There is a genuine and overwhelming beauty to the whole work. But on to wisdom.
I compared the wisdom to The Life Aquatic and The Royal Tenenbaums and placed it above both. The 9.5 that I gave it is based upon some simple factors. One, the elegy to young love à la Romeo and Juliet. This is a topic I feel strongly about. The film deals heavily with the pursuit of love in a situation where the conditions and the prevailing temperament are less than ideal. They involve the implementation of idealistic solutions to non-ideal problems. Many who know me will know that I have mixed feelings about young lovers running away to be together and ignoring their families and friends in the process. I mean, when I say that I have mixed feelings that I appreciate the idea and cringe at the consequences and the motives, from personal experience. That is the source of the -.5, but this is somewhat mitigated by the confusing and frustrating nature of the clans from which these young lovers come. I do not want to condone this kind of action by young people, but in some circumstances I think a little radical action is justified. Two, the portrayal of numerous individuals who, though flawed, do admirable things that signal change and a new assumption of responsibility for their actions as well as a new sense of purpose. When Scout Master Ward makes a hero of himself in the end, it is hard not to see his coming into himself and achieving something very real and new, for himself and of course, those he saves. Captain Sharp really fills out. There is some worry that some characters will remain too peripheral to be worthwhile, but no one does. Sharp is also given a huge moral boost. These moral rectifications remind me of the end of The Royal Tenebaums, when various characters recognize a wrong they've committed and vow to fix it. A lot of that is fixed in epilogue, which works there, but in this film there is an expedited sense of positive change that precedes the climax.
The wit is another 9.5. This is equal to The Life Aquatic and just short of The Royal Tenenbaums. This -.5 is again due to the slight predictability of plot. But that should not be seen as any great detraction. Otherwise this might have been a 10 as well. Line after line comes out to me. When Suzy tells Sam that she wishes she had never had a family and Sam leans in, thinks a bit, and says, " I love you, but you have no idea what you're talking about." The simple unambiguous way in which he says he loves her is the province of a heart never broken and never breaking. Her response is even better, nothing more than, "I love you, too."
When Suzy asks about the recently killed with an arrow camp-dog, Snoopy, "Was he a good dog?" Sam answers, "Who's to say?" Larger issues of plot are dealt with equally well, though often with some non-realist methods.The emotional turn of the khaki scouts near the middle of the film is a brilliant turn and completely unexpected. I don't think I ruined that. The writing is probably the best since The Royal Tenenbaums, which I think was the pinnacle of Anderson's writing. This is more flowery, even in the turn of scene and spectacle. That was meant to be an unambiguously positive compliment. Beyond this, what is there to say except, thank you Wes Anderson for another one.
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