Eagle vs Shark

Taika Waititi's directorial debut is a warm, fizzy & eccentric delight concerning two socially-awkward misfits and covers their wickedly amusing yet strangely alluring journey to finding love. Expertly blending elements of comedy, drama, tragedy & romance into an oddball yet heartfelt mix, Eagle vs Shark finds the then-new filmmaker trying to carve his own narrative voice and is a sincere effort by all means.

Also written by Waititi, the premise is simple, the stakes are small, the characters are quirky, and although the story comes pierced with themes of loss, longing, neglect & alienation, the witty approach & lighthearted treatment still makes it a fun & fascinating sit without diluting the emotions brewing beneath the surface. Waititi walks a fine line here and deftly balances the emotional beats with excellent comedic touches.

The idiosyncratic characters are sketched with heart & presented with compassion, plus the inadequacy in their persona only adds to their humanity. Jemaine Clement plays a bum geek with panache and is able to find tenderness in his selfish & petulant character. Loren Horsley is in as the shy, wistful girl with a crush on our dweeb loser and chips in with a sweet, silent & endearing performance that stands out with surprising ease.

Overall, Eagle vs Shark is somewhat rough around the edges & required more polishing but it nonetheless makes for a simple, funny & whimsical rom-com, thanks to Waititi's apt direction and brilliant inputs from its leading duo Finding humour in tragedy, making sure that dramatic & comedic bits remain in sync at all times, and commencing the debutant filmmaker's journey on a promising note, this small, light & satisfying indie is definitely worth a shot.

Cute, quirky film. I thoroughly enjoyed this twisted and very unique "Romantic Comedy" . Occasionally I was reminded of Napoleon Dynamite, but that is not to say that the content and story was unoriginal. The opening scene was absolutely fantastic, and immediately you are thrilled to find out who this strange girl is, as well as who her crush is. I love that the writer/director made some very non-cliché choices for the characters, it made for some refreshingly shocking fun moments. His actor girlfriend is very talented, and in reality a beautiful girl. This unique film may not be the one you watch dozens of times over, or memorize every single line, but it is certainly one I will see again when it is released.

I just saw Eagle vs. Shark twice. I went to see it once, and thought it was so awesome that I bought a ticket and went to the very next show. I already know this is going to be one of my favorite movies.

Plain and simple, this is a very awkward love story. It doesn't have a complicated plot, it doesn't have any complicated special effects, but what it does have in abundance is comedy. If you're a fan of Monty Python, The Young Ones, Kids in the Hall, The State, Andy Kaufman, Top Secret, Will Ferrel, 1970's SNL-- this is for you. It's that kind of humor. If you're a fan of films Epic Movie, Eurotrip, Dukes of Hazzard or more mainstream types of humor-- this is not for you.

The second time watching it, I laughed almost harder than the first time, because I kept finding even more details in the background to laugh at. I can already see myself quoting this film with my friends: "I'm too complex!" "She went to a lesbian party." And details like the crazy burger (where the bun is on the inside and the hamburger patties are on the outside) are just so priceless. I want to have an Eagle vs. Shark party and make crazy burgers with everyone, play fightman, and chuck shoes at my friend with a helmet.

But the main surprise of this film is also how emotional it is too. I was laughing out of my seat for the first half hour, then I was completely floored by how much I actually cared about these characters. In this love story-- you see these people who are absolutely perfect for each other (or perhaps absolutely wrong for each other), as they drift apart there's a true feeling of sadness for them. Most comedies of this wackier sort don't actually make me care about what was happening, and both times through I really felt for them.

But the best part is the ending. You might think this film is going to wuss out-- and it's actually unbelievable what happens. I won't ruin it for you, but if you were like me, and an hour into the film had predicted what was going to happen-- you are mistaken! This film ends with a bang and is just incredibly fulfilling. I'm smiling just thinking about it.

I cannot wait to see what their next film is, because it's the ultimate movie for my tastes. At the very least, I look forward to seeing this film over and over again at midnight screenings and on DVD.

Eagle vs. Shark is not another "inspired-by" high school athletic epic but rather a romantic comedy as strange as you will find this year. Actually I had to go back to 1971 with John Cassavetes' Minnie and Moskowitz and Hal Ashby's Harold and Maude to find equivalently eccentric couples meeting the challenges of decidedly unromantic love. Lily (Loren Horsley) is the naïve victim of society's meanness (she loses a job at Meaty Burger, where most of us wouldn't even eat, much less work; Jerrod (Jemaine Clement) is a slacker clerk out of Napoleon Dynamite's class.

This New-Zealand funky romance is partly funded by a fellowship from Sundance, not a guarantee of quality but a sign there might be something more that the initial impression that director Taika Waititi is being condescending to these less than brilliant lovers. After a while, I lost my own condescension and warmed to the simplicity of Lily's love for the obtuse and dorky Jerrod, as well as Jerrod's struggle with his feelings for this lovable flake. I also found comfort as I placed the protagonists in the same lineup with eccentric characters out of the imaginations of Bill Forsythe and David Lynch.

For example, the socially-clumsy Jarrod asks the introverted Lily if she'd like to have sex; she immediately replies, "Yep." The fleeting act, in which it takes longer to affix the condom than to perform, is charmingly innocent and inept.

Most of the family members are either socially unprepared or physically handicapped, a metaphor for the difficulties of social integration for unsophisticated but good-hearted underachievers. The oddball spirit of the film is embodied in the animal-costume party, for which Jarrod hosts as an eagle and Lily arrives as a shark. Thus the title, the endearing characters, and the difficulty deciding if this is an understated farce about the fringes of society or an exaltation of diversity and simplicity. You decide.

Greetings again from the darkness. While comparisons to "Napoleon Dynamite" are inevitable, writer/director Taika Cohen/Waititi actually delivers much more depth than the cult classic from Idaho. The multiple story lines involve family relationships, one on ones, self-esteem and self-discovery. Of course it may also be one of the quirkiest films of all time.

Of the two leads, Jemaine Clement as Jarrod and Loren Horsley as Lily, Clement's role is much flashier, but Ms. Horsley steals every scene. She is such a delight and a curiosity on screen. Her crooked smile and expressive eyes are exquisitely charming and as a viewer, we immediately embrace her desire to be loved.

Most of Mr. Clement's role is gearing up for his big revenge fight against the high school bully. As with most things in his life, he doesn't handle the moment very well, but it does become his moment of awakening.

The family relationship issues are complex and handled very realistically as very little is actually said amongst the individuals. Body language speaks much louder than words. Don't miss the director in the flashbacks as Jerrod's "perfect" brother Gordon.