Eagle vs. Shark
Directed by Taika Waititi
A premise precedes the laughs in most film comedies, simply because most people think that it has to: You can’t have a solid joke without the set-up. As a result, most mainstream comedies develop an idea so thoroughly representative of the overall product that the title says it all: Knocked Up. The Break Up. Wedding Crashers. Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. How much more do you need to know? And, in many cases, how much more do you need to see?
This inescapable reality makes Taika Waititi’s whimsical New Zealand comedy, Eagle vs. Shark, such a fresh delight. Similar to Jared Hess’ technique in Napoleon Dynamite, Waititi’s small-scale, vignette-driven approach to storytelling creates an unpredictable experience because the plot is entirely beside the point. Calling it a romantic comedy undermines its charm, because Eagle vs. Shark has a goofy sweetness about it that’s less interested in playing up the question of whether its two main characters will wind up together in the end than simply indulging the immediate fun of watching them interact. Delightfully odd fast-food restaurant cashier Lily (Loren Horsley), a twentysomething loner with bright green eyes and a mole to die for, seeks to elicit the affections of Jarrod (Jermaine Clement, sporting an impressive mole of his own). Crashing his esoteric costume party, Lily seduces the object of her desire with some pretty awesome videogame skills, and they culminate the night’s activities with some quickie coitus that doesn’t require them to remove their animal outfits.
Eagle vs. Shark is exactly how it sounds—weird yet harmless, easy to get into, sugary all the way through. (The current slate of successful New Zealand directors—also count Peter Jackson and Black Sheep director Jonathan King among them—really know their stuff.) The rest of the story finds Jarrod returning home to confront a high school bully. While his revenge fantasy reeks of vanity, Waititi never condescends to the character. You root for him because his purpose is so righteously individualistic. And, naturally, funny as hell.
Now, about that humor: Eagle vs. Shark isn’t the sort of comedy where line after line seems geared toward making you guffaw until your cheeks hurt. Instead, the sheer amusement value of the two quirky protagonists elicits a jovial affection for the oft-maligned lives of social pariahs. We laugh at them, but we’re with them until the bittersweet finale. And if it flies in the face of the contemporary cynical perspectives on young love, let it be known that sometimes a kiwi tastes better than sour grapes.
