Comment

Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Christchurch City Libraries Ngā Kete Wānanga o Ōtautahi.
May 04, 2017Nursebob rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
If the plot sounds clichéd and gloomy writer/director Taika Waititi (who also plays dad) serves it up with such wit and self-effacing charm, not to mention winning performances from his young Maori cast, that you can’t help but smile even through some of the more painful scenes. Unlike the world weary grade-school midgets portrayed in 2005’s "12 And Holding", Waititi’s kids are not mini-adults but rather fully fleshed children with all their silliness and nascent wisdom intact—Boy's brother Rocky believes he has uncontrollable super powers which accidentally killed his mother when he was born; Boy fancies himself a Polynesian Michael Jackson with the baddest moves (the film takes place in 1984); and Boy’s cousin doles out tween ennui while strutting around in an oversized fur wrap and high heels. Waititi still knows how it feels to be a little kid in a big world and his film’s many segues into simple fantasy embellish the story rather than distract whether it’s Rocky’s crayon drawings moving across the page or Boy, upon watching his father being roughed up by a biker gang, imagines him starring in a low-budget version of Jackson’s “Beat It” video instead. And when the children visit their mother’s grave which they covered in their own loving graffiti, it’s difficult to keep a dry eye. If the poverty and neglect seem downplayed it’s only because the camera is filming from the vantage point of an impressionable young lad who can still sense goodness long after adults have given up. With a disarmingly natural script and amiable performances (even dad and his slapstick gang grow on you) as well as those clever touches—with kids named Falcon Crest and Dallas you know television is Waihau Bay’s major source of entertainment—Waititi has produced a real winner. Childhood’s joys, pains, and sundry mortifications are all served up with warmth and just a touch of magic. Be sure to sit through the closing credits…