Boy Review

                                                     New Zealand has come out with some great stuff over the years. Once Were Warriors, Whale Rider, Black Sheep, and Broken English specifically come to mind. Their newest offering, from Taika Waititi, who directed Eagle VS Shark, is Boy. It is about a kid who goes by the name Boy. His guardian has left to go to a funeral. Boy is all alone. That is, until his father, Alamein (the man himself Taika Waititi) shows up out of the blue.

                                                     Let me preface my arguments to this film by saying I had all the hope in the world for this film. However, hope and the final verdict are two completely different things. I did not like Boy all that much. I am not saying that it is a terrible film...I am simply saying it was not a good one. My first problem with the movie is that while James Rolleston gives a decent, if not good performance as Boy, the character of Boy is so odd, and not in a charming way. Rather, Boy is odd in a creepy way. He does not know anything about social skills, and perhaps never will. My second complaint is that as writer and director of this film, Waititi could have given himself a substantially better character. Alamein is so stereotypical in everything that he does. He escapes from prison, he does drugs, he is tough on his son. Spare me because I have seen all these characteristics done significantly better in a plethora of other films. Speaking of which, I really didn't care for any characters in this film...they're all so cookie cutter.

                                                  It's all been leading up to this, however.......the biggest problem I had with the film. It's a simple problem, but one that is consistent throughout the film. The biggest issue I had with this film is that it lacks any sort of emotional punch. Scene after scene, we are supposed to care about these characters and the obstacles they have to overcome, but we simply do not. We are supposed to be crying inside at the fact that Boy has a tough life, or that his friends don't see him anymore. It's not that these issues aren't presented in a touching way. It's that by the time these issues roll around, we have gotten so unattached to these cliche characters that we don't care anymore.

                                                 Boy does have some good in it, however. It is funny when it wants to be (which is not that often), and despite bad characters, the acting is pretty good from most of the cast. However, Boy is also lazy in its storytelling and is better than it thinks it is. I would recommend Boy for a boring Saturday night, but not for anything else.
(2 Stars out of 5, The film is not rated but does feature smoking, cussing, drinking, and violence, and is equivalent to that of a PG-13 rating)