DailyView: Day 320, Movie 459

Eagle vs. Shark was the directorial debut of Taika Waititi and was shot in New Zealand.

According to IMDB: “In Wellington, wallflower Lily (Loren Horsley) is inexplicably attracted to loser Jarrod (Jemaine Clement). She’s out of a job; he’s nursing a decade-long grudge against someone who teased him in high school. When she accompanies him to his seacoast hometown where he intends to take on his nemesis, she meets his father, his daughter from a one-night stand, and other family members–plus the memory of his talented, dead brother. Jarrod treats Lily badly, invents a relationship with his dead brother’s fiancée, and gears up for his fight. Will she finally have enough and go home?“

I did not love this film, but you could definitely see the style of Taika Waititi coming through in the movie. The was a lot of quirkiness and oddball characters that develop into deeper characters than you expect. There are some very imaginative scenes including one of a hula hoop, and some others involving stop motion.

The relationship between Lily and Jarrod was a bizarre one. I did not find it that interesting and that definitely flawed the film for me. Both actors were intriguing, but I just did not feel the connection between the characters.

I actually liked the friendship between Lily and Jarrod’s father (Brian Sergent) more than the romantic relationship with Lily and Jarrod.

Maybe the film did not grab my attention at first and maybe I did not find anyone to really root for in the story. I usually like the eccentric films like this, and I loved Taika Waititi’s film oeuvre. There are some highlights in Eagle vs. Shark, and you can definitely see it leading to some of the other Waititi films, but I was looking for more out of it.