OH "Boy"

Aloha HIFF Goers!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to see Boy. I have to say, if you did not see it, you missed out big time. At first I did not want to go, but since it somehow fell into my schedule and the synopsis said Michael Jackson, I decided to go. That was the best decision I had made. I LOVED it! This film filled the theater and even made some run for the door in order to get a seat.

Summary

Well, the film is about a little boy named Boy who finally meets his father Alamein when his grandmother is away. The film begins with a humorous imagination that Boy has of his father, Boy also says how he hopes to see Michael Jackson live one day. His imagination of his dad does not come close to him in reality. Rocky is Boy's younger brother who believes he has magical powers, powers that were so strong that it killed their mother when he was born (according to Boy). His role throughout the film continued some of the comedy and provided the innocence of childhood. Little things here and there help Rocky to believe that he really had powers.

When Boy's father Alamein (who is played by the director Taika Waititi himself) arrives, he is not very good news. Boy does many things such as help his father find his buried cash and steal marijuana in order to make his dad happy. All he really wants is a dad and to have that father-son bond, but Alamein is not quite the material.

Sometimes throughout the film, a "weirdo" man is part of the scene and Boy is mean to him while Rocky befriends him. The audience later learns that it is this man that saves Boy's life after he had fallen of the bridge since he was drunk and high. Though a kid, Boy was like that because he was disappointed in his dad. In the end the grandmother returns home and things go back to normal. In the final scene, Boy, Rocky and their father are sitting around the mother's grave.

You had to see it

Its hard to explain why its so good. There is nothing that I can directly pin point and say "yeah, _____ was good." If you had seen it, you would know how I feel. I'll try to explain why. First, it was funny how Boy would explain his imagination of his dad, and then the screen would show his dad just as Boy explain. If you watch the trailer, you can see what I mean. Just watching the trailer made me crack up. Second, the film kind of made me feel whatever you maybe feeling when you say, "aww" is that heart-warming? I'm not quiet sure. I guess you could say that the film sunk into me. As I'm typing this, I feel the same way as I had when watching the movie. Third, it was kind of cute in how the audience could see the a child's innocence. Gotta be kids. It made me think how I was as a child and how I used to believe everything I heard.

Well even though it passed, you should still check out the trailer. Boy - Trailer
Even watching the trailer now makes me crack up laughing. I also can't help but think that Taika Waititi sounds like Johnny Depp.