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Boy

Boy

2010
Comedy
1h 27m
It's 1984, and Michael Jackson is king - even in Waihau Bay, New Zealand. Here we meet Boy, an 11-year-old who lives on a farm with his gran, a goat, and his younger brother, Rocky (who thinks he has magic powers). 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. (imdb)
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Boy

2010
Comedy
1h 27m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 62.82% from 544 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(544)
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Rated 05 Aug 2017
55
39th
People call each other eggs a lot in this film. I liked that.
Rated 30 Sep 2010
68
43rd
Good to see some real New Zealand cinema. Essentially a biographical recollection of life in rural New Zealand. Touches on the delusions of wealth and prosperity the Americanized media of the 80's was pouring onto the impoverished communities scattered around the globe, call it escapism or what you want but it was a notion that was fully subscribed to by the idealists, young and old. Stick around for the Haka-Thriller-Bollywood number during the credits.
Rated 06 Aug 2020
60
51st
It has the feel of Hunt for the Wilderpeople, but it isn't as funny and the plot seems to be a bit of an afterthought. Despite this, it's a good bittersweet coming of age story. Best part is the Thriller dance scene at the end.
Rated 31 Jan 2013
81
43rd
A Maori Wes Anderson movie. Fun dialogue.
Rated 24 Feb 2013
75
60th
Good, light-hearted fun. New Zealand looks beautiful as ever, and all these kids' Māori accents are adorable as hell.
Rated 04 Oct 2013
78
75th
Reviews of this film on this site are bizarre, "a biographical reflection of the '80s", "how will the untimely death of Michael Jackson effect the way this film is viewed","good, lighthearted fun." Did I watch the same film as everyone else? This is a universal message about self-realization, managing expectations, and tolerating your place and family. Everything else is a backdrop. Michael Jackson may as well be Sinatra or Fonzie, and the 80s medieval times.
Rated 22 Mar 2014
70
53rd
My favorite scene is where the little girl says: "Thanks Little Shogun", and just after that the older girl says: "Thanks Little Fonzie". You have to see the film to actually understand why this is so funny. You probably stopped reading by now. Haka numu lebe, Oi oi oi!!!
Rated 17 Jun 2018
70
41st
I really liked the pacing and offbeat humor here. The kids were all fantastic, bringing both airiness and heaviness to the proceedings, depending on the circumstance. The father felt like more of a written construct than a true human, which removed some of the emotional resonance for me.
Rated 03 Feb 2019
64
65th
quite a bit better than the director's first film. an off-beat comedy about fatherhood and masculinity in a maori village
Rated 18 Jun 2021
71
47th
Shitty dads are eternal but so is Thriller
Rated 30 Mar 2010
40
9th
A rather weird film, depicting a series of grim and depressing events but playing them as feel-good knockabout comedy. It doesn't work.
Rated 04 Jul 2010
80
66th
Pretty good coming-of-age tale.
Rated 17 Sep 2010
88
80th
Loved it (but I grew up in New Zealand in the 80s, so I'm also the perfect target audience)
Rated 05 Mar 2012
20
41st
"The use of flipbook animation and exaggerated fantasy sequences entails a certain logic, but these devices run aground on a fairly limited sense of imagination which fails to make up for the story's essential slightness." - Andrew Schenker
Rated 13 May 2012
75
80th
How will the untimely death of Michael Jackson effect the way this film is viewed? It won't because his death wasn't untimely. If you didn't see that coming, you are unfamiliar with what human beings look like.
Rated 28 Apr 2013
74
24th
Cute, could have been good if there were a story in it.
Rated 29 Mar 2015
72
43rd
Cute portrayal of a very imaginative kid.
Rated 13 Mar 2018
81
72nd
If you go to the trivia on the imdb page, you will read that the director replaced the lead actor for an extra on set. Incredible, given his performance. There were a lot of little subplots that wound together in this film, some which strayed too far (wierdo) and some of which were sweet and funny. The film had no clear-cut protaganists and antagonists. While the pace may seem slow at times, it pays to follow through - the movie contains a lot that is true to life, with a bittersweet ending.
Rated 30 Apr 2018
76
67th
For being one of those meandering stories without a plot, this movie gives a lot to think about.
Rated 31 May 2018
81
57th
81.00
Rated 06 Aug 2018
80
78th
Top badass moment? The Michael Jackson Thriller dance; great stuff. In the same way that England has the Welsh, New Zealand (which, by the way, is the capital of Australia) has the M?ori; this film is set in a small M?ori coastal village (that I imagine is a bit like Cardiff). It took me a while to work out the self-deprecating base to the humour in this movie, but once I did it was really rather fun. The extras on the 2-disc edition are very funny too. No cats, chainsaws or decapitations.
Rated 30 Jan 2020
62
75th
From a film-making perspective, this was a clear step up from Waititi's debut "Eagle vs. Shark" which I also liked for it's quirky comedy. "Boy" is more ambitious, dramatic and seems to provide a rather believable portrait of what's it like to live a in small town, New Zealand - which probably has universal similarities with all small towns around the globe. It's fun and touching, but also a quite small and simple film - and there's nothing wrong with that.
Rated 11 Mar 2020
100
99th
☆ Ugh, people are surprised at how high I rate this movie, but every time I watch it I remember. It's incredibly touching and thoughtful, and perfectly dances the line between comedy and an absolute tear jerker. It's not polished like Waititi's newer films, it's homemade. And that's why I like it so much. The cast is phenomenal, and you can tell everyone had a lot of fun making this movie. ☆
Rated 08 Jun 2020
79
74th
Taika Waititi really thrives when doing films close to him and Boy is just wonderful.
Rated 24 Jun 2020
85
93rd
This is Waititi's best film (and by some way). A brilliant blend of Kiwi humour and pathos that addresses issues of fatherhood in a gentle yet deceptively direct way. The performance by the child cast is very good with Waititi appropriately restrained but still 'quirky' in his depiction of the father.
Rated 07 Nov 2020
77
63rd
Of all the people I have met in this life Dad's are the worst.
Rated 30 Nov 2020
85
87th
Boy is tragically brilliant - a harder watch than most of Taika's films, but is layered with nuance, heartbreak, and hope, and has stuck with me and not let go since watching.
Rated 07 Nov 2021
70
41st
Pulls off the funny/serious tonal shifts without blinking an eye; the jokes work, the drama lands, and they don’t undermine each other. The kids are great, and Taika is funny, although he’s too much of a dork to really pull off the wildcard-tough-guy energy required in certain moments.
Rated 18 Jan 2022
96
86th
From the minute this film begins playing one can recognizes the style and craftsmenship of Taika Waititi. Using humor to his advantage, Waititi uses spurts of seriousness to shock the viewer into remebering its core theme, how emotional minipulation and abandonment effects children. A rare beauty in this movie is the representation of the Maori culture of Waititi, presented in a way that isnt othering.
Rated 16 Aug 2022
60
44th
"Boy" starts off in captivating fashion: it's a palpable depiction of childhood in rural New Zealand, brimming with imagination, set in beautiful locations and helmed by an excellent performance from the 12-year-old James Rolleston. Progressively, the film loses some of its steam as it arguably focuses a bit too much on the money subplot and, even in its crucial character moments, feels a tad too tame. Still, the contrast between the idealized version of Boy's dad and reality is quite resonant.
Rated 31 Oct 2022
9
86th
It's a little bit Wes Anderson, a little bit Napoleon Dynamite, an amazing movie.
Rated 23 Dec 2022
80
78th
Pretty cute coming-of-age story in that time where you just can't wait to be an adult, but then realize that adulthood isn't quite what you imagined it to be. There's a few side stories that threaten to overpower the main one, and there's enough extra characters to run a dozen spin-off series. Favorite moment: the cool dad trying to replicate hopping in his car like the Dukes of Hazzard.
Rated 03 Jul 2023
8
81st
Moonwalks to perfection the blurry line between the innocence and imagination of childhood and the harsh reality of grown-ups who fuck up. Unsurprisingly, its subtle coming of age story is equal parts humourous and heartbreaking as American masculinity with its cool cars and fantasized identies collides with rural New Zealand life with its simplicity and goats. Wonderfully acted (Rolleston and Waititi both bring a wide range of emotions to their roles), and comes to a fittingly uncertain ending.
Rated 18 Jul 2023
97
98th
97
Rated 19 Jul 2023
96
94th
sss
Rated 06 Feb 2024
80
76th
Joy to watch!

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