Beautiful, funny at times, never maudlin, coming of age for the children and adults in the film. Shot in a small town that is genuinely the town that the author/actor (father) actually grew up in. He spoke after our screening, and it was a 30 kid school house, which it still is. Actually the film is a huge success in NZ and the little community gets a small percentage of the gross, so the community is benefiting from this film.
The film captures a time and place in history and culture. It is slow and yet the story develops and covers a lot of ground. What I especially loved is that the camera doesn't jump around like Hollywood movies, changing every 5 seconds. It stays with the character.
Put on your list!
Boy
2010
Action / Comedy / Drama
Boy
2010
Action / Comedy / Drama
Plot summary
In 1984, 11-year-old Boy lives on a farm with his younger brother Rocky (who thinks he has magic powers),their gran, and a goat. Shortly after Gran leaves for a week, Boy's father Alamein appears out of the blue. Having imagined a heroic version of his father during his absence, Boy comes face-to-face with the real version: an incompetent hoodlum who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years before. This is where the goat enters.
Uploaded by: OTTO
Director
Top cast
Taika Waititi as Alamein
Rachel House as Aunty Gracey
Pana Hema Taylor as Juju
Craig Hall as Mr. Langston
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 702.62 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Movie Reviews
Reviewed by
Perfect! Take note Hollywood
Reviewed by
unforgettable touching characters
This movie takes place in a New Zealand poverty-stricken tribal community in 1984. Alamein "Boy" lives with his younger siblings and grandmother. His hero is Michael Jackson. He has friends. He has a nemesis. He has a crush. While his grandmother is away for a funeral, his absentee father returns. The father is a druggie ex-con, and a horrible influence on Boy. Boy places his hopes and dreams on running away with his father. The start is brilliantly humorous. The relationship is heart breaking. The father is frustratingly childish. The life that they lead is engrossing. There are a couple of great performances from these unknown actors.
Reviewed by
So Much Michael Jackson!
Set on the east coast of New Zealand in 1984, Boy, an 11-year-old kid and devout Michael Jackson fan, gets a chance to know his father, who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years ago.
This is the rise of Taika Waititi in all his glory. Whole "Eagle vs Shark" is a fun, offbeat, quirky romance, and is often compared (both favorably and unfavorably) to "Napoleon Dynamite", it falls short just a bit. It is with "Boy" that we see the greatness Waititi is capable of and would continue with such films as "What We Do in the Shadows" and "Hunt for the Wilderpeople".
Exactly how they got away with so much Michael Jackson is beyond me. But I suppose if you don't use the music and just focus on the imagery, you can pass it off as a loving homage or satire. Heck, if I was Jackson, i would have been flattered.