4. "Moonrise Kingdom"

Wes Anderson built a career exploring the childhood neuroses that keep adult characters in an arrested state of adolescence. In "Moonrise Kingdom," he builds a film around the troubled kids themselves: a pair of preteen misfits who run away together in a romantic adventure that could have come from one of her beloved juvenile fantasy novels. There's a great adult cast -- Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Edward Norton, Harvey Keitel, Tilda Swinton, and especially Bruce Willis as a lonely island lawman who gets a second chance -- but the film belongs to these restless kids. So many Anderson films are constructed like Joseph Cornell boxes, self-contained little worlds painstakingly constructed of delightful, defining details and delicious flourishes. These kids break out of their boxes and the drag the rest of the film with them into the world outside, even if it's just a tiny New England island. A bigger box, yes, but the possibilities .... It's funny, playful, full of nostalgic blasts and period textures, and most of all loving: accepting of the headstrong kids determined to find their place in the world, forgiving of the oblivious adults around them, affectionate in its storybook imagery. Anderson plays with the conventions of puppy love, runaway adventure and adolescent rebellion with a knowing sensibility, but he loves his characters unconditionally, and his sincerity makes the film blossom. -- Sean Axmaker

Bing: More about 'Moonrise Kingdom' | More on Edward Norton

Want more Movies? Be sure to like MSN Movies on Facebook and follow MSN Movies Twitter.

(Focus Features)