Dvd
Boy
Taika Waititi's second feature film (after Eagle vs. Shark and episodes of TV's Flight of the Conchords), is a coming-of-age comedy set in the '80s, East Coast, New Zealand.
Boy (James Rolleston) is obsessed with Michael Jackson - in particular, his dance moves - and his little brother Rocky (Te Aho Eketone-Whitu) possibly possesses 'powers'. The pair are trying to find their potential (and the meaning of the word "potential") while living in the shadow of their larger-than-life dad, Alamein (Waititi).
In Boy's eyes, his dad is a hero: a deep-sea diver, war veteran, rugby captain and close relation of Michael Jackson. But in reality Alamein is doing seven years in jail and is a member of the three-man Crazy Horses gang. Now out of the can, Dad returns home and Boy is confronted with the man he thought he remembered.
Starring James Rolleston, Te Aho Eketone-Whitu, Taika Waititi
Directed by Taika Waititi ('Eagle Vs Shark', TV's 'Flight of the Conchords')
Written by Taika Waititi
Drama, Comedy | 1hr 28mins | Rated (M) | contains drug use and offensive language | Origin: New Zealand | Official Site »
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The Talk
32 votes / 12 comments
Flicks review
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4
A movie that is distinctly kiwi, in all the good ways, Boy takes place in a beaten-down coastal village, a dead-end place where in the ‘80s one could only dream about the magnificence of Michael Jackson or the glamour of TV’s Dynasty.
It’s is a film with modest ambitions but a love for its subjects. Writer-director Taika Waititi takes from experience, using his ear for the musicality of the Maori accent to create a strong sense of place. Boy moves from comedic into more serious territory but, for once, we are not seeing onscreen Maori as hampered by domestic violence or mired in spiritual guff.
Excellent and honest debut performances from James Rolleston and Te Aho Aho Eketone-Whitu as his younger brother, Rocky, are hugely impressive. Next to them, Waititi himself comes off a little caricatured as their father, Alamein, who in his son’s eyes is imagined to be anything from a heroic soldier to a samurai warrior. The drama begins as Boy begins to see the real Alamein, a man not yet come to terms with his own adulthood and the responsibilities that ought to come with it.
Patchy pacing becomes an issue in the second half and some cartoonish moments create a distancing effect but this story about the gap between youthful potential and the puzzling mystery of adulthood is a feel-good, warm-hearted salute to the virtues of rural New Zealand. And it’s our best film in years.
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The people's reviews
157 reviews
Press Reviews
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Hollywood Reporter
A cross between "The 400 Blows" and "Slumdog Millionaire" (though not quite in their class)... James Rolleston's sweet, winning performance in the title role as a kid with a lot of potential and a vivid imagination, largely overcomes the leisurely storytelling. It's a crowd-pleasing film that could find a modest theatrical audience.
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indieWIRE (USA)
The result is alternately zany, sentimental, and remarkably insightful about the quirks of a child’s mind.
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National Business Review (Robert Smith)
Boy is a very funny and surprisingly thoughtful film of buried treasure, lost Mums, super-powers and Michael Jackson. It has one of the saddest scenes involving a goat to ever appear on screen, but still manages to be one of the funniest films in ages. Anybody who misses out on it is a total egg.
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NZ Herald (Peter Calder)
5
Funny, heartbreaking, wonderful.
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Otago Daily Times (Mark Orton)
3
The thing with Taika Waititi's wildly successful short film, Two Cars, One Night, was that it lasted only 11 minutes. Just long enough to generate a smile, and take a whole lot of us back to pub car parks in the '70s.
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TV3 (Kate Rodger)
5
It feels like a while since I smiled this wide and felt this good watching any film, kiwi or otherwise. It was a great feeling
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tvnz.co.nz (Darren Bevan)
Unmissable.
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Variety (USA)
Apart from the local vistas and mostly Maori cast, Waititi has scrubbed away all culturally specific traits from his growing-up-Kiwi comedy, concentrating instead on the same things that might infatuate any other 1984-era moppet: a schoolyard crush, a missing dad and, above all, Michael Jackson.
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ViewAuckland.co.nz (Jess)
4
Inspired by the short film Two Cars, One Night, Taika Waititi brings together a great cast of New Zealanders to tell the story about a young boy living in Waihau Bay with his family and his goat.
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