eaglevshark.jpg When a DVD of Eagle vs. Shark first arrived in the mail for review, I looked at the cover and said to my husband, “well, it stars Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords, and we like him, right? So it’s probably going to be good, right?” He gave me quite the skeptical look.

And then that Friday evening I popped it into the DVD player and we settled back to watch it. I was expecting something odd, something that maybe didn’t quite make sense. I was wrong. Eagle vs. Shark is quirky, yes, and has no special effects, no car chases or gun fights or aliens, what it does have is surprising emotional depth, characters that you will love, and acting by Jemaine Clement that is so raw that it will make your chest ache.

As one Amazon reviewers puts it, “If you like silly funny movies that grow on you over time and turn into a cult classic…this is it”.

Writer/Director Taika Cohen is well-known in New Zealand as a stand-up comedian, won a Nokia film award for a part in a movie in 2000, and is also a painter, photographer, and fashion designer. I believe the name for him is “Renaissance Man”. Not surprisingly, he has also written and directed two episodes of Flight of the Conchords.

Star Jemaine Clement is, of course, the co-star of Flight of the Conchords, as well as a former TV writer and cast member of several New Zealand shows. I like how he describes his fashion sense-”Prince but when he’s just going to the store or something - casual Prince.”

So in the movie, Lily (Loren Horsley) is in love with Jarrod (Jemaine Clement), who she sees every day when he comes in to eat at Meaty Boy, where she works behind the counter. She gets herself invited to his costume and videogame party, which is where the movie gets it’s title and why the characters are dressed that way on the cover. After beating everyone else at the videogame but letting Jarrod win, the two of them hook up and eventually, he invites her to visit his family with him.

However, he has another reason for wanting to travel back to his childhood home-Jarrod has been in “training” since high school for a fight. His entire existence is focused around being physically ready to beat up the bully who picked on him in school. He has invited the bully to meet him at their childhood school playground for a showdown. Meanwhile, Lily is bonding with Jarrod’s father, brother, sister-in-law, and niece, while Jarrod seems oblivious to the fact that other people besides him might have problems of their own.

Lily’s yearning for Jarrod soon becomes a realization that he is deeply wounded and possibly unable to let her in emotionally, and yet she continues to stand quietly by his side as he makes realizations of his own. In the end, everyone is better off for having had Lily come to visit. Eagle vs. Shark isn’t a fancy movie, and viewers expecting sight gags or crude jokes or any of the typical comedy techniques we see in American films might be disappointed. If you liked Napoleon Dynamite because it was just what it was, nothing more, than you will more than likely enjoy Eagle vs. Shark. It quietly builds until by the end, you are holding your breath waiting to see how the characters will turn out. And it’s funny, I promise!

Eagle vs. Shark was released on January 8th, and you can get your own copy by using this Amazon link. Jemaine Clement fans, you don’t want to miss this movie.