ACED Magazine

Rated: R:
Director: Taika Cohen
Starring: Craig Hall, Jackie van Beek, Jermaine Clement, Loren Horsley, Rachel House

Lily and Jarrod are two contentiously likable nerds who hitch up in this quirky, low key, character-driven, anti-romantic comedy from New Zealand. It"s an oddball love story about two oddballs, or to put it more succinctly: Napoleon Dynamite's in Love! Perhaps too low key for some as this is the antithesis of the Hollywood romantic comedy, but rather than offer up the same set of romantic archetypes, Eagle vs. Shark deftly shows that anyone can fall in love.

Upon being downsized at a fast food restaurant, Lily (Horsley) gets invited by frequent customer Jarrod (Clement) to a costume party where participants go as their favorite animal. The title refers to the costumes they wear at the party. Dressed as a shark with felt teeth, she wins over eagle costume clad Jarrod by systematically beating everyone at the party in a karate video game. After letting Jarrod win the final match, he invites her home and they have what may be the most hysterically low key sex scene ever filmed.

He invites her to visit his family. They drive across the country in Lily’s eccentric movie-quoting brother’s car so Jarrod can pursue his ten year “revenge mission” against a high school bully. The absurd dialogue that follows is only outmatched by the equally odd, yet sweet natured characters, who deal with their traumas and emotional repression in a way you wouldn’t normally expect from movie characters. In the process of getting to know people with more problems than she could even imagine, Lily learns a lot about herself.

Cohen's script goes against the grain of the romantic comedy by stripping nearly anything resembling social skills from the lead characters. They’re passionate, most often sympathetic, but also nervy, annoying, awkward and frustratingly unpredictable the way real people are in real life, and that’s what sets this apart from the plethora of hot couple pairings of bigger budget flicks. He also throws in nonchalant animation of inanimate objects like apples and sleeping bags. It seems rather desultory at first, but adds a nice metaphorical flair to the ending.

If you like your humor very dry, this is the film for you. It works mostly because it’s easy to invest in the character’s goals, even if it’s not always easy to identify with their motivations. Jarrod’s zeal to beat up his high school bully only seems thoughtless and mundane until the final resolution reveals the true insight into his character.

Horsley and Clement mostly carry the entire film themselves. Clement’s poker-faced delivery, both deliberate and nuanced, is the perfect match to Horsley’s darting eyes and sweet smile. The film’s biggest flaw is the characters are so marginalized in film that its appeal is highly dependent on whether or not you have actually met people like this in real life.

Unlike most romantic films however, it succeeds on its refreshingly unpredictable storyline that progresses carefully, only stopping for a bit to get to know the awkwardly charming characters. That it doesn’t just add up to a mood piece with charm to spare is a marvel of this hard-working cast and passionate storytelling, where people learn the importance of moving their lives forward.

This Reviewer's Rating: 3.5 / 5

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