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Eagle vs Shark (2007)
Director: Taika Waititi
Movie review
From Time Out Chicago
As ugly to look at as it is unfunny, Eagle vs. Shark strives to be the Kiwi equivalent of Napoleon Dynamite. It’s a dubious goal to begin with, and EVS outdoes its predecessor in sheer ratio of thuds to laughs. The calculated dimness is, presumably, supposed to be negated by romance: Made up to look as homely as possible, überloners Lily (Horsley) and Jarrod (Clement) seem destined for each other—why not, since they have matching facial moles? He’s too distracted for love, however, fixated instead on having a “scheduled fight” with his former schoolyard nemesis. This, despite the fact that he’s at least a decade out of school.The film’s comedy is predicated on the fact that the characters, at any moment, appear to be under the fog of heavy medication. (“Would you like to have sex?” he asks her, using roughly the same inflection with which one might say, “Would you pass the cheese doodles?”) A student of the Wes Anderson school of whimsy, Waititi peppers the screen with quirky details—a movie theater called Cine-Saurus Rex, a fast-food joint known as Meaty Boy—and is fond of photographing his actors as they stare dead-eyed into nothingness. Lily and Jarrod consummate their passion at a party whose guests come dressed as their favorite animals. As the lovebirds fumble with each other—apparently forgetting to remove their costumes—you realize it’s not the characters who are infantile. It’s the filmmaking.Author: Ben Kenigsberg
Time Out Chicago Issue 121: June 21-27, 2007
Cast & crew
Director: Taika Waititi
Producer: Ainsley Gardiner, Cliff Curtis
Cast: Loren Horsley, Jemaine Clement, Brian Sergent, Craig Hall, Rachel House, Cohen Holloway, Joel Tobeck, Morag Hills full cast
Genre(s): Comedy
Rated: R
Duration: 87 mins
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