Synopsis
Boy, an 11-year-old child and devout Michael Jackson fan who lives on the east coast of New Zealand in 1984, gets a chance to know his absentee criminal father, who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years ago.
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Cast
- James RollestonBoy
- Te Aho Aho Eketone-WhituRocky
- Taika WaititiAlamein
- Moerangi TihoreDynasty
- Cherilee MartinKelly
- RickyLee Waipuka-RussellChardonnay
- Haze RewetiDallas
- Maakariini ButlerMurray
- Rajvinder EriaTane
- Manihera RangiuaiaKingi
Recommendations
- 90
The New York Times
This unpretentious comic tale of a youngster's growing relationship with a long-absent father has a surprising rhythmic genius: joy juxtaposed with humiliation, silliness with sadness, fantasy with reality, and none of it formulaic. The editing feels fresh, as does the film. - 83
The A.V. Club
In its third act, this funny, bittersweet, tonally assured coming-of-age story grows unexpectedly poignant as Rolleston comes to realize he doesn't need a super-cool buddy or co-conspirator in his misadventures. He needs a father, and Waititi's stunted man-child is fatally unsuited and unqualified for that role. - 80
Wall Street Journal
Mr. Waititi, a popular standup comic in New Zealand, is wonderfully droll and entertaining in this acting role, which isn't all that far, geography and culture notwithstanding, from Steve Zahn at his stoner best. - 75
New York Post
This charming kid's-eye movie, full of comical and vivid detail about the lives of these cheerful children, has the loose, lanky feel of a memoir and of French New Wave films. - 75
Christian Science Monitor
It's a lovely oddity, and one that will probably hit home for preteen audiences all over the world. - 60
New York Daily News
Waititi retains his quirky style, but it feels meaningful here, a valid effort to explore the difficulties in coming of age during tough times. - 50
Slant Magazine
Less concerned with rendering the specifics of its setting (a small Maori town on the New Zealand coast) than in calling on bouts of whimsy and superficial cultural signifiers to approximate the headspace of its central characters. - 50
Los Angeles Times
Writer-director and co-star Taika Waititi ("Eagle vs Shark") never builds much momentum for his largely uneventful if sometimes inventive story.
