BOY (Taika Waititi). 87 minutes. Opens Friday (July 13) at TIFF Bell Lightbox. See Movie Times. Rating: NNN
It’s slight and a little bit predictable, but Boy, a story set in a Maori community, has so much charm it’s hard to resist.
Writer/director Taika Waititi stars as Alamein, a negligent dad who returns home after his seven-year prison term to dig up the money he stashed before he went into the slammer.
His son, Boy (James Rolleston), whose mother died giving birth to younger brother Rocky, is home alone, taking care of Rocky and his cousins while his grandma is away. Boy greets Alamein as a returning hero, but soon discovers he’s chosen the wrong role model.
There’s nothing new in the plot department, but the script has real insight about the fantasies kids generate as survival mechanisms. An important underlying theme is how American pop culture works to undermine New Zealanders’ own history and traditions. Boy is a Michael Jackson fanatic, something Alamein hopes to exploit.
Waititi is charismatic as the reprobate dad – the other “boy” in the pic – and he’s found a great young actor in Rolleston.
Not exactly earth-shattering, but Boy has a lot of appeal.
