DVD Review: Eagle VS Shark

Love proves itself blind once and for all in Eagle vs. Shark, a wickedly offbeat romantic comedy from Academy Award nominee Taika Waititi, coming to DVD from Miramax Home Entertainment on January 8, 2008. Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, this outlandishly funny tale stars Jemaine Clement (HBO’s quirky cult comedy “Flight of the Conchords” and Loren Horsley (Kombi Nation) as a pair of floridly misfit lovers in a hilarious movie in the irreverent tradition of Napoleon Dynamite.

Lily (Horsley) and Jarrod (Clement) play out their romance in an utterly disarming, completely cockeyed world of their own making, expressing their love through video games, “crazy burgers” and revenge against high school bullies. Writer and director Waititi (Two Cars, One Night) has concocted a funny, fractured romance between two outsiders that snowballs into an all-out quest for payback. Eagle vs. Shark was named Best Screenplay at the 2007 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival and Best Comedy at 2007 Newport Beach Film Festival. A nominee for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, the film was also an official selection at 2007 South by Southwest Film Festival.

Critics went wild for Eagle vs. Shark’s madcap mixture of romance and hilarity. Pete Hammond of Maxim calls it “A truly inventive and totally wacky tale of love” while Paul Fischer of Moviehole.net raves, “An absolute gem.” Eagle vs. Shark is “Hilarious! A must-see. It’s perfection,” raves Mark Bell, Filmthreat.com, adding, “Jemain Clement is brilliant.”

Review:
Eagles VS Shark is probably the most awkward film I saw in 2007, and with that being said, it was also one of my favorites. There’s just something about an awkward love story that always hooks me.

It’s not hard why to see it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, what is surprising though is that this movie isn’t better known due to the crowd that it would undoubtedly appeal to. I think it’s probably impossible to see this film and not draw a comparison between it and Napoleon Dynamite. The two films share a lot of central themes: awkward male, trying to fit in… awkward girl, also trying to fit in, there’s similar cinematography, similar fashions, even a similar storyline with a couple of the characters selling useless products which adds an additional comedic element. Eagles VS Shark is what I could see the Napoleon Dynamite characters growing up to be.

Artistically, I was rather surprised by this film, there’s a side bit involving apples that serves as a metaphor throughout the film that is just beautifully executed, and while some may not be able to see how it fits with the film, I found that it was a nice touch. Also, I found the writing was top-notch and the acting was solid. I couldn’t imagine a better cast for this film.

The special features run in no shortage either. There are deleted scenes with optional commentary, outtakes, feature commentary with the writer/director, and even a music video.

Overall, it’s wacky, it’s cute, it’s unbelievably awkward, and it’s without a doubt a must see for any film lover.

Review by Emma Loggins

Grade: A
Official site: http://video.movies.go.com/eaglevsshark/
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