Wes Anderson is one of those directors who, love him or hate him, has been remarkably consistent. Each film, from "Rushmore" right on down, is an artfully constructed and totally hermetic world unto itself, with flawed or absent father-figures, a closet's worth of funky-yet-chic pop-culture knickknacks and a saucerful of heartbreak.

And yet, each work is a very delicate balancing act: His films can become rather precious, with the emphasis on style often distancing one from the emotions, and characters who appear to be speaking in quote marks. Then again, such charges of style vs. substance were leveled against the original cinema du look progenitors like Jean-Jacques Beineix and Leos Carax back in the 1980s, yet their films have clearly stood the test of time.

I'll confess to always having had mixed feelings about Anderson, but I've come down firmly in his corner. Three reasons: First was his animated adaptation of Roald Dahl's "Fantastic Mr. Fox" — somehow Anderson's dollhouselike obsession with set design and costuming seemed to make more sense when working with puppets. Second: I read an interview with him where he seemed genuinely bewildered by all the people who thought he was always aiming for some patina of hipster cool. (Wait, you mean he wasn't?) Third: "Moonrise Kingdom," his latest and best, which is as mannered and art-directed as anything he's done, but also undeniably heartfelt.