MOVIE REVIEW: Eagle Vs. Shark | By Leah Pavlick
Most of my life philosophy is based around my deeply held belief that true love exists, and everyone can find it if they look hard enough. I’m not talking about some kind of fairytale bullshit where some dude rescues some chick from a dragon or whatnot, but the kind of love that makes you realize you have found your reflection in another person. The movie Eagle vs. Shark confirms this notion for me. That’s not to say that this movie is a Notebook-style love story; I say this simply because if the two main characters found each other, anybody should be able to do the same.
Quirky is a word there just begins to describe the mood of Eagle vs. Shark. Many people had described it to me as a “New Zealand Napoleon Dynamite“, and I can see where they draw the resemblance. I tend to like Eagle vs. Shark much better for two reasons: there is A, a plot, and B, character development. It follows the developing relationship of Lily and Jarrod, the male and female winners for the Most Awkward Person contest. Lily is a painfully shy Meaty Boy checkout girl who develops a raging crush on one of her regular customers. The Meaty Boy loving Jarrod is a space cadet in the highest sense of the term, so wrapped up in the fantasy world he has created for himself that he would fail to recognize his face in the mirror, let alone another person’s undying love for him.
The surprisingly tenacious Lily wrangles an invite to one of Jarrod themed parties, in which attendees are required to dress as their favorite animal (hence, Eagle vs. Shark). Their interaction at this shindig results in what I am going to cautiously christen the most hilariously awkward hookup scene in the history of film. I mean really; the movie is worth seeing specifically for that two minutes of makeout gold.
The plot potion of the film begins when the new couple journeys to Jarrod’s hometown to exact revenge on his childhood nemesis. We are then introduced to the dysfunctional excuse for a family that has managed to produce a man-child like Jarrod. The rest of the film centers around Lily, Jarrod, and his family attempting to gain some sort of understanding of each other.
The strength of Eagle vs. Shark is its ability make a viewer laugh, cringe, and go “aww” all at the same time. There were several moments in the movie where I had to look around at other audience members to make sure it was okay to laugh. By the end of the film, I had fallen completely in love with Lilys’ character, who continues to pursue the love of her life despite his complete and utter idiocy. Also of note is the films’ kick-ass soundtrack, provided mostly by New Zealand band The Phoenix Foundation, with contributions by M. Ward and The Stone Roses. The all New Zealander cast, which includes about-to-be-famous Flight of the Conchords guy Jermaine Clement as Jarrod, manages to hit just the right mix of humor and awkwardness that this type of movie requires. Eagle vs. Shark comes highly recommended from me, which should be all the recommendation you need.