Kate Leaver
TonyKEagle vs Shark
December 24th 2008 04:30
Eagle vs Shark : a delightful tale of endearingly weird romance.
This is the ultimate misfit love story. The meek-but-cute protagonist Lily (Loren Horsley) is bumped out of her fast food job by a bunch of greasy co-workers who don't appreciate her subtle coolness. For no other reason than perhaps she can smell the social dysfunctionality on him, Lily develops a crush on impish, plodding Jarrod (Jermaine Clement). The slow, oddball courting that goes on between the two makes for a refreshing, if painfully awkward storyline.
As the title suggests there is indeed a battle between an eagle and a shark. Lily dons a particularly well crafted shark outfit when she turns up at Jarrod's dress up party. He is dressed as the eagle, which is a motif that pops up again later. The bashful way Lily attaches herself to Jarrod is remarkably un-sharklike. She pursues him with gentle determination, waiting as he circles around their possible intimacy more like a pigeon than an eagle. They do come head to head in a video game battle, where she impresses him with her hand-eye coordination.
The performances are measured. They are soft and thoughtful and timid. They are every bit as awkward as writer/director Taika Cohen intended. The quirky additions of a rotten apple subplot (literally, a romance between two rotten apples underpins the main plot) and the occasional change in shutter speed make a delightful film all the more special.
Warnings: You will at times be bored. You will wish you could counsel these characters into functioing normally. You will wish at times that you could smack Jarrod in the face. Hard. But it is worth watching if only because it is quite unlike any other film you'll see for a while.
You might need to leave it a while before you watch Flight of the Conchords again, as you may have trouble forgiving Jermaine for his unlikable behaviour as Jarrod.
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