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Tuesday, March 20, 2012
MOVIE REVIEW
Boy
When Dad Comes Home, Trouble And Adulthood Begins
James Rolleston as the title character in Taika Waitiki's comedy-drama "Boy".
Unison/Wahlua Films
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
FOLLOW
Tuesday, March 20,
2012
Cool as an ocean breeze and bright as a golden sun, "Boy", a
comedy-drama directed by Taika Waitiki ("Eagle Vs. Shark"), wins your heart with
its magical fairy-tale quality abutted by the cold reality of adulthood.
The film follows three fantasy worlds, one of Boy (James Rolleston), a huge
Michael Jackson
fan who fancies himself as the Gloved One; Alamein, Boy's abrasive but
fun-loving father (Mr. Waitiki) who thinks his own Crazy Horse Gang of three are
world-beaters, and Boy's brother Rocky (Te Aho Eketone-Whitu), who may be
endowed with special magic powers.
Set in New Zealand in 1984 during the height of Michael-mania, "Boy" has a comic
sweetness and playful energy that is entertaining and endearing. Its
children are wise beyond their years, especially Rocky, who has a closer
relationship to a homeless man he calls "Weirdo" than to his dirt-poor father,
which gets a very clear explanation in Mr. Waitiki's film. The director
gets the balance right in the exploration of the fragile family Boy is a member
of, and his and Rocky's relationship with the father vulnerable to his own sense
of failure. Left unspoken but resonant is the gloomier side of realizing
one's dreams: that the grass isn't necessarily greener -- for Michael Jackson in
particular -- and that "Boy" wrapped up shooting just at the time he passed away
is a coincidence in itself.
"Boy" is a lush, colorful, gentle coming-of-age movie with some lessons
dispensed, their understandings often communicated in a character's piercing,
knowing glare. The silences amidst the free-flowing gaiety tell the
underlying story: that a child often knows reality and truth with more acute
clarity than not only an adult estimates but better than an adult often
themselves might. The pain of loss, whether physical, emotional or
monetary is a constant theme of "Boy", as is the aspiration to do better in
life, to better oneself and make it to the big time. Mr. Jackson is the
touchstone of this idea, and he's lovingly and amusingly mimicked by cast
members, including the director, in numerous sequences and in the end credits.
Beyond all else, "Boy", flickering with wide-eyed imagination, humor and glee,
vividly alternating between childlike-visions of good and bad, and the true
sorrows and less joyous side of life as innocence fades. There are at
least two moments that strongly evoke the clash of innocence with harsh reality,
and one of them, seen three times, is especially jarring even though it is
discreet. The move through childhood for Boy is the complex, wild, free,
liberating, adventurous and full of deceit, as are virtually all the characters
on Mr. Waitiki's rural stage. (You'd have to agree that if the director
chose to make a sequel, it would obviously be called "Man".)
Mr. Waikiti's "Boy" is punctuated by excellent performances from Mr. Rolleston,
the 12-year-old who plays the pre-pubescent title character, Mr. Eketone-Whitu
as Rocky, and the director himself as Alamein. The youthful boy characters
often aggravated me for some peculiar reason I can't put my finger on.
Maybe it was how they at times seemed to get away with things that some children
(myself included many years back) wouldn't dream of getting away with. Or
maybe it was that as with many father-son relationships, Alamein's absence in
Boy's and Rocky's lives means that he isn't automatically taken very seriously
by his sons. The film's title could also apply to Alamein, and his own
arrested development.
Astutely directed with deliberation, sensitivity, intelligence, echoing romantic
notions of the 1980s fantasy world (E.T., Tron, Michael Jackson and his pet
menagerie), "Boy" is 84 minutes long but feels longer, as so much is happening.
There are layers, subtle and otherwise, plus detail and characters who never
utter a word, though I felt I knew a lot about them just in the expressive looks
they registered into the camera. Calm, cute and self-assured, "Boy" is a
tender gem that represents Mr. Waikiti's best film to date.
With: Moerangi Tiore, Haze Rewiti, Rajvinder Eria, Cherilee Martin.
"Boy" is not rated by the Motion Picture Association Of America. It
contains language and brief violence. The film's running time is one hour and 24 minutes.
COPYRIGHT 2012. POPCORNREEL.COM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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