Love can be awkward and strange and painful and funny and sometimes only makes sense to those involved in the relationship.
Never has that been made more apparent than in Eagle Vs Shark. This romantic comedy from Loren Taylor and at least one of the writers of Flight of the Conchords is not your typical rom-com fair. Jemaine Clement (Jarrod) is hilarious but not the first thing that comes to mind when you think ‘romantic lead,’ and Loren Taylor (Lily) is adorable but just so strange. It’s hard to picture her acting opposite the usual handsome love interests like Matthew McConaughey or Bradley Cooper (which actually makes Jemaine kind of perfect for her).
The plot to Eagle Vs Shark basically breaks down like this: Lily is quiet and awkward and madly in love with Jarrod, who comes in to the fast food restaurant where she works in order to pick up her co-worker, who is not at all interested. Determined to make her love known, Lily crashes Jarrod’s costume party, almost defeats him at his favorite video game, and pretty much inserts herself into his life from there on. Of course the path to true love does not go smoothly for Lily and Jarrod, and soon they are traipsing across the country to exact revenge on Jarrod’s old nemesis, prove their worth to friends and family, and finally (hopefully) find what they are looking for in each other.
If you are a fan of Flight of the Conchords, or comedy from New Zealand, or that wonderfully hard to watch type of comedy that makes you feel uncomfortable and embarrassed for the characters, Eagle Vs Shark should be right up your alley. There are quite a few moments in this film where you find yourself desperately wanting to look away or take a bathroom break or even pretend you are asleep. They’re funny, but you feel almost bad for laughing.
There are also some amazingly sweet moments where you watch the two leads reach out to each other in quiet, emotionally stilted ways. Ways that you can find yourself relating to because they seem so realistic. We’ve all had those moments in a relationship, especially at the beginning, where we want to connect to another person but have no idea how to make it happen without some awkwardness thrown in. It isn’t huge and flashy and exciting when it finally does happen for Lily and Jarrod. But in its soft and strange simplicity it’s pretty much perfect.
Eagle Vs Shark, 2007, rated R
Starring Loren Taylor, Jemaine Clement, Joel Tobeck
Directed by: Taika Waititi
Written by: Loren Taylor, Taika Waititi
