

In the end, do we care whether Lily and Jarrod find love? Not really. All the supporting performers play equally broad roles, many of whom might be at home in a David Lynch movie. They don't imbue them with much humanity, but that could be more of an indictment of the film than of their acting. Certainly, Loren Horsely and Jermaine Clement inhabit Lily and Jarrod. It's hard to judge the performances of the leads because it's unclear how much of the movie's failure is the result of the screenplay and direction.
Eagle vs shark movie#
On those occasions when the movie is funny, it's primarily because we're laughing at the characters. They end up coming across more as exaggerated caricatures than human beings. There is a difference between someone who is extremely socially unskilled and someone with a low IQ, and both Lily and Jarrod cross that line. The former characteristic is difficult to overcome, especially in a would-be romantic comedy, but the latter represents a greater challenge. Not only are they unlikable but they're stupid. Waititi wants us to become interested in the relationship between the protagonists, but it's a tough sell. Jarrod is more interested in pursuing the ex of his dead brother than maintaining a relationship with the girl in the shark costume. Lily meets Jarrod's family and she continues bonding with them even after she is unceremoniously dumped. A bully from high school is coming home and Jarrod wants to pay him back for past insults. Then they embark upon a road trip to Jarrod's home town. She's dressed as a shark and he's in an eagle costume. Later, Lily shows up at Jarrod's costume party.

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She offers him free fries, which he accepts, and free cheese, which he declines because he can't eat cheese.

Lily has been observing him from afar and it's the highlight of her day when he asks her for a hamburger. The awkward courtship between Lily (Loren Horsley) and Jarrod (Jermaine Clement) begins when she takes his lunch order at the fast food joint where she works. Unfortunately, they are also morons, and it becomes increasingly difficult to care one way or another about characters who act like they have undergone frontal lobotomies.

Like the protagonist in Napoleon Dynamite, the main characters in Eagle vs. The bigger issue relates to the characters. The film offers some laughs but there are times when the dead zones between them are uncomfortable to endure. Shark is more uneven than that of Napoleon Dynamite. In the first place, the semi-comedic tone of Eagle vs. However, while there are superficial similarities, this production, from New Zealand writer/director Taika Waititi, is unlikely to achieve the same kind of embrace by geekdom that was lavished upon Jared Hess' feature. Shark appears to be vying for the Napoleon Dynamite audience. As Jarrod's day of reckoning arrives, and everything hits the fan, Jarrod and Lily will find something that goes beyond romantic fantasies and revenge - faith in who they are.Eagle vs. But neither of them can anticipate just what kind of grit the steadfastly optimistic Lily will show in her heartbreak. It's a match that seems made in outcast heaven, but when Lily decides to risk everything for love, her hopes are nearly dashed.Īfter a brief fling, Jarrod dumps Lily because he's too busy "training" for his all-important payback mission. She comes as an anemic Shark and he's a fluffy-headed Eagle. Lily ( Loren Horsley), a lonely oddball and fast-food waitress, and her crush, Jarrod ( Jemaine Clement), another lonely oddball and video game clerk who has spent the last decade plotting ultimate vengeance on a bully from his high school past, connect at a "dress as your favorite animal" party.
