Reed Morano, a successful cinematographer, takes her first shot at directing with Meadowland. And it may be because she’s so cinematically inclined, or perhaps she has a dark side the public is getting a taste of here, but she’s chosen some truly heavy material from Chris Rossi (also his first) to kickstart her directorial career. Granted, drama makes for plenty of opportunity to play with the camera, and she certainly does, providing dreamy, close-up, mood all over the place. And it may be because she usually only has control of the camerawork of a film that she felt so inclined to rev up the other sensory experiences of the film to maximum intensity.

The film is about Sarah and Phil (Olivia Wilde and Luke Wilson) who, at the film’s outset, are struck the heavy blow of having their only son kidnapped. Flash forward a year and Phil is back at work as a cop, dealing with his grief with the occasional support group meeting and lunches with a friend who lost his daughter (John Leguizamo). Sarah, on the other hand, stays fairly numb with the help of lithium, barely passing for a teacher at the grade school she teaches at. Clearly these two have chosen the grieve alone path, Sarah often wandering around Times Square late at night, not necessarily searching so much as distracting herself, and Phil parking outside the gas station where their son disappeared as though he may wander back in the dead of night.

The detective on their case presents some new evidence that suggests what neither, though Sarah especially, want to hear. In her own misguided attempt to avoid reality she goes to cringe-worthy extremes leading to a belligerent and uncomfortable end. Grief manifests differently for everyone, especially in the circumstance of a cold case where the absence of concrete evidence doesn’t allow for proper grief, but Sarah’s self-destruction is especially difficult to watch. Morano also makes it quite hard to listen to. The music and sound design of the film are pumped up so high at parts it hurts. What’s meant to be a distraction tactic for the characters is just plain wearisome for the viewer.

Calling the film a bummer is an understatement. Wilde is convincingly inconsolable—and a bit crazy—in what is clearly meant to be a showcase of her talent, but in the hands of Morano, we’re rather hit in the head with it repeatedly. Wilson is of course the easier to sympathize with, those trademark Wilson puppy dog eyes playing to his advantage, but Rossi could have written Phil with more backbone to counter Sarah’s intensity better. As is, the two don’t have much in the way of chemistry, or even a believable animosity befitting their situation. They are more like two characters sharing the same story by chance.

Rossi wrote a script exploring the most gruesome depths of repressed grief, Morano certainly pulled it out of the actors and added further intensity with her blurry focus and pore-revealing intimacy in almost every scene, throw in the ear-assault and too-serious actions of the characters and it stops being insightful and starts being a bit scary. The film does a full stop at the very end, attempting to bring the mood back up with a slipshod scene that feels so much like a therapy session it’s laughable. Sorry Morano, you can’t assail viewers for 90 minutes and not expect them to be numb by the end to any ploy at pulling at heartstrings. Like Rossi’s characters, we can’t help but follow their lead and remain neatly anesthetized.

Originally published as part of our 2015 Tribeca Film Festival coverage.

Craig Johnson is now getting some artwork for his Sundance hit The Skeleton Twins, a film that stars Saturday Night Live alums Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader as estranged twins who reunite after reaching rock bottom. The film also stars Luke Wilson, Ty Burrell, and Boyd Holbrook and hits theaters on September 19th. The official movie poster for The Skeleton Twins first premiered on EW.com, check out the image below.

Official Movie poster of The Skeleton Twins

We have got two Blu-ray copies of Wes Anderson’s quirky indie hit Moonrise Kingdom to give away to a couple of our Facebook and Twitter followers. As a bonus, one of those winners will receive a special “Survival Package” to go along with the Blu-ray.

We are giving away one (1) Moonrise Kingdom on Blu-ray and one (1) Moonrise Kingdom Survival Package” which includes:

How do you enter the giveaway?

Step 1: LIKE Way Too Indie on Facebook

Step 2: Leave a comment on this page telling us who your favorite Wes Anderson character is.

* Additional chance to win: Follow @WayTooIndie on Twitter. Then tweet: @WayTooIndie (your favorite Wes Anderson character) http://tooin.de/moonrise, to enter.

Details on the giveaway
Winners will be selected at random. One (1) winner will win a Blu-ray and one (1) winner will a “Survival Package” (which includes a Blu-ray and more). If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Must be in the United States to win. Entries can be submitted until October 11th, 2012 at 11:59PM CT. This Sweepstakes is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook or Twitter. Good luck!

AVAILABLE OCTOBER 16, 2012 ON BLU-RAY COMBO PACK WITH ULTRAVIOLET, ON DVD AND ON DEMAND FROM UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, two twelve-year-olds fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing offshore — and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in more ways than anyone can handle.

Moonrise Kingdom director Wes Anderson is a master at poignantly depicting those who are a bit different from most of the other characters in the world around them. Regardless of gender, era, and even species, Anderson manages to perfectly represent characters that we can all relate to in one way or another. Here, we’ve highlighted our top 5 most beloved “outsider” characters created by this Academy Award nominated director.

Rushmore – Max Fischer

1998’s Rushmore focuses on the life of Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman), a 15 year old with high ambitions and a low grade point average. He is ridiculed and rejected by most of his fellow classmates of Rushmore Academy and his closest confidante is Dirk, a much younger attendee of the school. Desperation for companionship, Max attempts to befriend both a young teacher (Olivia Williams), as well as the father of his classmates (Bill Murray). The two adults soon become involved in a love affair, leaving Max upset and jealous; however, he soon finds himself bonding with someone more his age – the equally ambitious Margaret Yang – and is able to find a place for himself at school.

The Royal Tenenbaums – Margot Tenenbaum

It’s true that every member in the Tenenbaum family could be marked as an outsider:
Overprotective parent Chas (Ben Stiller), Riche (Luke Wilson), the anxiety-ridden tennis prodigy, insensitive patriarch Royal (Gene Hackman). But arguably the character who dons the biggest outsider status is none other than Margot, the notoriously secretive adopted daughter who mysteriously lost half of a finger during a two-week period when she ran away from home as a child. Utterly depressed and unsatisfied with her life, Margot ends up being the object of not one, but two men’s affection – both her brother Richie, and his best friend – self declared “honorary Tenenbaum”, Eli Cash.

Fantastic Mr. Fox – Ash

Awkward little Ash Fox has a lot to live up to, as his father, the “Fantastic” Mr. Fox, is quick, cunning, and essentially, everything their species should be. And to make matters worse, his soft-spoken and athletically gifted cousin, Kristofferson, comes to live with him in his family’s tree while his father recovers from double pneumonia. The two boys are barely on speaking terms, but begin to start their friendship anew once Kristofferson comes to Ash’s rescue when he is being bullied at school. Later on as the cousins aid Mr. Fox’ in his plan to rob three infamously nasty farmers, Ash must brave many obstacles to rescue his cousin from captivity. The young fox quickly matures and realizes that he has strengths of his own – his quirkiness being one of them!>

Moonrise Kingdom– Sam Shakusky

Khaki Troop 55’s most eccentric member is without a doubt 12-year-old Sam Shakusky, played by newcomer Jared Gillman. Although Sam is extremely smart and resourceful in his outdoor survival skills, this misunderstood character just doesn’t quite fit in with his fellow scouts was abandoned by both his real parents and his foster family. Luckily, Sam finds a refuge in Suzy, his one true love, and the two are able to help each other feel like less of outsiders, and more like a part of their own little community.

The Royal Tenenbaums is about a dysfunctional family with each member having their own talents and idiosyncrasies, reunited again under the same roof the child prodigies grew up together. Director Wes Anderson’s style is clearly shown like most of his films, the script is incredibly detailed and the character development is phenomenally well done. Most of it is comprised of quirky characters with deadpan punch lines. Love him or hate him, Anderson remains one of the most original contemporary American filmmakers, this film only reflects that.

The Royal Tenenbaums is written in a style of a book and starts off with a prologue – which is narrated by Alec Baldwin – that gives us a detailed background on the Tenenbaum siblings as children. Each of the three kids is gifted in their own way. The oldest son Chas managed to develop a new breed of mice and close real estate deals in his teens. Margot is an adopted daughter who before the age of 14 produced a $50,000 playwriting grant and a secret smoker since 12. Richie is an international tennis champion. Then you have Eli Cash, who is a neighbor kid who spends enough time with them to be considered an honorary Tenenbaum.

To close out the prologue, we see the father, Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman), explain to the kids that even though he has made “certain sacrifices” by having children, that he is leaving based on their mother’s, Etheline Tenenbaum (Anjelica Huston), decision.

The film then jumps 22 years later and we see the children all grown up. At their core, the siblings are falling apart although it is seems like it was not because of being child prodigies or growing up fatherless but simply where life as taken them.

Royal has not spoken to his ex-wife in seven years until one day he pops in to tell her some news. He tells her that he is deadly sick and claims he has six weeks to live. In his own words he “has a pretty bad case of cancer”. However, you do not know if he is telling the truth or not as he is the type of person that walks with a cane but rarely uses it. His last wishes are simple, to get the family back together.

Chas (Ben Stiller) in now permanently in a state of paranoia after losing his wife in a plane crash. The film implies that the late night fire evacuation drills he does with his two children are not rare occurrences. He decides that because there are no sprinklers inside the apartment, he and his kids should live with his mother.

Richie (Luke Wilson) was once a famous tennis player but had choked in a big tournament which ended his career. He blames his failure on his absent father and his love for his adopted sister Margot. Currently, he is cruising around the world on a large ship when he hears the news about his father and decides to go home to visit him.

Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) spends six hours a day in the bathtub of a locked bathroom watching TV and secretly smoking. Her isolation has caused her not to write a play in years. She is married to Raleigh St. Clair (Bill Murray) but leaves him when she decides to go back home.

Royal never has as much as a quarter on him at any time. He constantly has to ask people for money or credit. His own son Chas has sued him twice for taking money from him. That may be pay back from when Royal shot him in the hand with a BB gun as a kid (which actually happened to Owen Wilson’s brother as a kid).

Since moving back home, Margot rekindles a relationship with Eli Cash (Owen Wilson) which is very upsetting to Richie who is in love with her. Richie eventually resorts to suicide as desperate call for attention. Similar drama surrounds Etheline as Royal is trying to get closer to her at the same time his nemesis Henry Sherman (Danny Glover) is.

Henry calls Royal out for not having cancer and he is right. Royal admits to faking it in an effort to try getting back with his ex-wife but realizes the 6 days he spent with his family has actually been one of the best times in his life. And that is something he is not lying about.

A scene towards the end of the film is wonderful, a long continuous scene that captures almost all of the characters showcasing their personality. Henry is still trying to cheat the system by getting the most out of his insurance. Royal finally makes up to Chas by giving him a dog. The doctor who was giving bad medical advice in the beginning is still giving terrible advice. Margot is still getting cigarettes from hiding places and Richie Wilson is still taking care of his bird as he did as a child.

Wes Anderson’s love for the theater shows as this felt more like a play than it did a feature film. His focus on scene decoration and matching of colors on the set are both artfully done. Along with cinematography, another similar theater element is most of the characters are almost always wearing the same clothing throughout. When you watch a Wes Anderson film, you instantly know it by the look and feel of it, which is something I greatly admire of him. His style is identifiably unique.

While both Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson came up with a script that can hold its own to many others, the acting performances help sell it wonderfully. Gene Hackman nails the role perfectly, in what might be the best film he has done. This role landed him a Golden Globe win. Granted, the amount of talented actors Wes Anderson got to work with for this is mesmerizing, but he did get them each to perform their best.

With The Royal Tenenbaums, Wes Anderson spends so much time carefully distinguishing each character that it makes the main storyline seem relatively shallow. It is the type of film that becomes more rewarding after each viewing and because of that it has a tremendous cult following. Of course, most films put out by Anderson have a following automatically associated to them.