Jarrod, a loner video game store clerk, actually likes Lily’s co-worker, Jenny, and he prefers to stand in her line when he gets his lunch. One fateful day, Jarrod ends up in Lily’s line, and gives her an invitation to a “dress as your favorite animal” party, which he instructs her to give to Jenny. Jenny wads up the invite and tosses it in the garbage, where Lily retrieves it and decides to go to the party.
As you may have guessed, based on the DVD’s cover art, Lily shows up at the party dressed as a shark, and Jarrod is an eagle. Though Jarrod concedes that the shark is a good choice, he asserts that the eagle is most definitely better. The events that transpire at the party result in Lily and Jarrod beginning an unconventional, though fitting relationship.
Later, after some relatively erratic behavior from Jarrod (including standing Lily up at the movie theater), we learn that he has been planning his revenge on a boy who bullied him in high school. Even though he has been out of school for years, he has yet to forgive and forget, and he now plans to kill the man who made his life hell as a boy.
I’ll spare the details of what happens next, but suffice it to say that the rest of the film is full of moments both incredibly humorous and somewhat sad, and they all come together to make it a surprisingly entertaining experience.
Impressions
This film has drawn a lot of comparisons to 2004’s Napoleon Dynamite, and for good reason. Each film includes a lonely outcast who is blissfully unaware of how uncool he really is. Each film also includes a quirky, oddball girl who helps the male lead to overcome some obstacle. In these respects, Eagle vs. Shark is not unlike Napoleon Dynamite.
In almost every other sense, this is a totally different kind of movie. Where Napoleon was just a weird kid, living mostly in his head, Jarrod is actually kind of creepy. He has a sort of demented air about him, as though he could go crazy and kill someone at any moment. I’m not entirely sure that that was how the character was meant to come across, but that is certainly how he seemed to me.
Other than being slightly creeped out by Jarrod at first, I really enjoyed this movie. At its heart, it is a love story between two misfits. It is funny and sad and strange and familiar, all in the same instant, and these elements work very well together in crafting a story that most everyone can identify with on some level.
Special Features
This DVD has a nice group of special features, including a feature-length audio commentary by director Taika Waititi, with intermittent visits (via phone) from other cast members. Other special features include a handful of deleted scenes (which can be viewed with or without an accompanying commentary track), as well as a hilarious outtake reel and the music video for Going Fishing by The Phoenix Foundation. There are a few movie trailers included as well, but I consider those less of a special feature and more of a form of shameless self-promotion for the movie studio.
There aren’t a dizzying number of features included on this disc, but I am content; especially considering that this was clearly a very low-budget film.
Final Word
I found this movie to be very entertaining and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes quirky, offbeat movies, and/or those who enjoyed Napoleon Dynamite (assuming you’re 17 or older, that is, as Eagle vs. Shark is rated R). If you do not fall under the aforementioned category of people, you may be better off passing on this one.
Overall: 7.0 – Good