MOVIE: BOY

Tragi-comedies are the hardest to laugh at because they’re not often done well. Usually, the tragedy often outweighs the comedy, making laughing at the tragic scenarios ‘black’. Boy does not suffer this fate, perhaps because writer/director Taika Waititi (Eagle vs Shark) had be working on the script and perfecting it for over three years. James Rolleston gives an excellent performance as Boy, an 11-year-old fascinated with Michael Jackson and whose father, Alamein (Taika Waititi) has been in prison for much of his childhood. Boy is man of the house but when his father returns home, he’s forced to confront disappointments and make decisions about his own path into adulthood. An acclaimed comedy writer, Waititi’s script is sensitive but momentarily hilarious and the genuine optimism and underlying ‘best intentions’ of these characters makes them impossible to dislike or blame, despite their fallibility. The script fuses autobiography (Waititi grew up in Waihau Bay where the film was shot), friend’s biographies and fiction and incorporates animation in the format you’ll find familiar to Waititi’s earlier films. This is creative storytelling that maintains an intimate interaction with it’s audience and might have you crying, out of humour or pity. (NG)