Kara Hayward, Jared Gilman(Courtesy Creative Commons)

"Moonrise" is set in the 1960's and features two young lovers, Suzy and Sam (Kara Hayward, Jared Gilman) run away from their small New England town and the town sheriff (Bruce Willis) leads the search party to find them.   

Anderson is well-known for having quirky and idiosyncratic characters that define his films and with Anderson mainstays like Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman onboard in this film, anything else would be surprising.

Given that Edward Norton, Harvey Keitel, Tilda Swinton and Frances McDormand are rounding out the cast, Anderson appears to have scored a major coup with talent in this film. 

But it's the newcomers that apparently steal the show as Hayward and Gilman are handed the difficult Anderson tradition of playing precocious youngsters and reports out of Cannes indicate that they pass with flying colors. 

Since releasing "Bottle Rocket" in 1996, Anderson has long achieved success and credibility in the indie-film industry, most notably with cult favorites "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums." His most recent relase in 2009 was the "Fantastic Mr. Fox," which as a animated feature was a departure for the Houston native, though it was widely-praised and showed his versatility in film types.

Admittedly, Anderson's films might not be suited for everyone. The characters can seem unlikable and unrelatable in many instances without full context. More to the point, few of the characters Anderson has created over the years could be described as "normal." But Anderson's films have a funny way of hitting you emotionally if you allow them too and Anderson's selection and usage of music in his films is perhaps without peer.

Without having seen "Moonrise Kingdom" yet, it would be impossible to give a full recommendation to the film but if you're an Anderson fan or willing to explore the off-beat world he's created, "Moonrise" might be the perfect opening for you.

"Moonrise Kingdom" opens nationwide May 25th. Reach reporter Salomon here.