Eagle vs Shark (2007)

Eagle vs Shark: Directed by Taika Waititi. With Loren Taylor, Jemaine Clement, Joel Tobeck, Brian Sergent. The tale of two socially-awkward misfits and the strange ways they try to find love: through revenge on high-school bullies, burgers, and video games.

“Eagle vs. Shark is not another u0026quot;inspired-byu0026quot; high school athletic epic but rather a romantic comedy as strange as you will find this year. Actually I had to go back to 1971 with John Cassavetesu0026#39; Minnie and Moskowitz and Hal Ashbyu0026#39;s Harold and Maude to find equivalently eccentric couples meeting the challenges of decidedly unromantic love. Lily (Loren Horsley) is the naïve victim of societyu0026#39;s meanness (she loses a job at Meaty Burger, where most of us wouldnu0026#39;t even eat, much less work; Jerrod (Jemaine Clement) is a slacker clerk out of Napoleon Dynamiteu0026#39;s class.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis New-Zealand funky romance is partly funded by a fellowship from Sundance, not a guarantee of quality but a sign there might be something more that the initial impression that director Taika Waititi is being condescending to these less than brilliant lovers. After a while, I lost my own condescension and warmed to the simplicity of Lilyu0026#39;s love for the obtuse and dorky Jerrod, as well as Jerrodu0026#39;s struggle with his feelings for this lovable flake. I also found comfort as I placed the protagonists in the same lineup with eccentric characters out of the imaginations of Bill Forsythe and David Lynch.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor example, the socially-clumsy Jarrod asks the introverted Lily if sheu0026#39;d like to have sex; she immediately replies, u0026quot;Yep.u0026quot; The fleeting act, in which it takes longer to affix the condom than to perform, is charmingly innocent and inept.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMost of the family members are either socially unprepared or physically handicapped, a metaphor for the difficulties of social integration for unsophisticated but good-hearted underachievers. The oddball spirit of the film is embodied in the animal-costume party, for which Jarrod hosts as an eagle and Lily arrives as a shark. Thus the title, the endearing characters, and the difficulty deciding if this is an understated farce about the fringes of society or an exaltation of diversity and simplicity. You decide.”