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It’s 1984, and eleven-year-old “Boy” (James Rolleston) can’t wait for his superhero dad to come home. That’s because his dad is a deep-sea diver, a master carver, the captain of the national rugby team (every year), and a member of the Green Berets, who became a war hero fighting the Nazis. Boy is also a devout Michael Jackson fan, so he thinks his dad moonwalks, too. It’s easy for Boy to continue in these fantasies because his father’s actually been in jail for the past seven years, and his mother’s been deceased for just as long.
Boy and his seven-year-old brother, Rocky (Te Aho Eketone-Whitu), live with their grandmother in an old, run-down house in a poor Maori village next to the ocean. It’s also home to an assortment of ragamuffin little cousins, a rusted-out truck, a sea of mud, and a very friendly goat. Rocky believes he has magical powers, and he draws adorably scary pictures in fluorescent colors. He also decorated their mother’s grave in the same lively rainbow style.
One day, when grandmother leaves on a trip, the father (Taika Waititi) suddenly appears, bringing his old buddies, determined to unearth the loot he buried in a field before his arrest. Boy is thrilled because now he can help his dad find the treasure before heading off on amazing adventures with him. Rocky, however, sees nothing but evil in this unwelcome male intruder.
Boy is a funny, sad, playful, sweet, and touching coming-of-age story, told through the eyes of two young brothers. It was based on the life of the writer/director Taika Waititi, who also stars as the father in the film.
You can tell that the film was written by the man who lived it because every scene sparks with authenticity. When the boys talk to their buddies, it’s in grunts more than sentences. The fantasy sketches are hysterical: Boy doesn’t just brag about his dad; you see him morph from deep-sea diver into Nazi-hunter before your eyes. And watch Boy try to impress the clearly bored older, sultry teenage girl while ignoring the pretty, sweet, friend-girl who always has his back.
The scenery’s spectacular, set on the Pacific on one side and the mountains on the other, with kids playing in mountains of driftwood washed ashore by the ocean. The depiction of poverty is stark, yet it’s not ugly because the children are so beautiful. A scene where Boy puts on his first dinner, using the scraps of stuff in the pantry and fridge with all the pint-size kids helping at the table, is priceless.
But most of all, Boy is an award-winning story about two sons making sense of their lives, when reality confronts their strikingly different views of who their father really is. It’s perfectly childlike and abundantly human. I loved it.
A final note: when the credits begin to roll, don’t reach for the remote! There’s an incredible, laugh-out-loud extra that’s like nothing you’ve seen before. And, after the final credits, a lovely touch.
