Moonrise Kingdom

****1/2
Director/producer/screenwriter Wes Anderson possesses one of world cinema's most unique voices. For almost 20 years audiences have marvelled at the magic in his films, which display an other-worldliness presented in a very down-to earth fashion.

His new feature, Moonrise Kingdom, adds another quirky, charming, funny and warm-hearted story to his body of work, which includes The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and Fantastic Mr. Fox.

The story is never the point in an Anderson film, it's the journey which the central characters take that we've come to see. And in Moonrise Kingdom the journey brings to mind the delight, magic and wonder of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Except instead of fairy queens and transformed peasants, the central characters are rebellious teens and worn-out adults.

There's whimsy in the film's setting, a mythical island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965. And there's romance in the air as pre-teen intellectuals Sam and Suzy (wonderfully played by Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward) unite to explore their emotions, escape adult supervision and find love in the wilderness of their tiny island paradise. The thrust of the simple storyline is that the power of their attachment changes those around them from obstructionists to supporters. And the adventures they share, along with the self-realization that they and other characters come to acquire, makes for a wondrous 90 minutes of escapist entertainment.

Apart from his obvious talents on the page and behind the camera, Anderson has the ability to attract top-notch actors who are eager to work with him for a fraction of their normal salaries. By twisting their usual screen personae he encourages them to bring freshness to their roles. Thus the action star (Bruce Willis) becomes the milksop sheriff who finds a spine, the edgy comedian (Bill Murray) and the feisty indie heroine (Frances McDormand) play the sad-sack parents who finally realize what they're capable of achieving, and three dazzling urbanites (Edward Norton, Jason Schwarzman and Harvey Keitel) morph from hardened scoutmasters into role models who find their souls.