AUGUST 12, 2016
OK, we’ve reviewed “Jason Bourne” and “Star Trek Beyond” already this week. Time for some artsy-fartsy stuff. “Hunt For the Wilderpeople,” a New Zealand movie that actually isn’t all that artsy-fartsy, has been tearing up the art-house box office this summer with incredible holds week after week, indicating great word-of-mouth from moviegoers. And it really is a crowd-pleaser.
Directed by Taiki Waititi, a half-Maori New Zealander who is primarily known in the States for directing the HBO series “Flight of the Conchords” and last year’s sleeper vampire comedy “What We Do in the Shadows,” “Hunt For the Wilderpeople” focuses on Ricky (Julian Dennison, wonderfully believable), a troublesome 13 year-old wannabe gangsta who is plunked into yet another foster home (his final one before being sent to juvie), this time headed by the warm Aunty Bella (Rima Te Wiata) and her grumpy husband Uncle Hec (Sam Neill, just excellent).
Tragedy soon strikes, and a distraught Ricky clumsily fakes his own death and runs away into the bush with his dog Tupac (of course). Hec sees through Ricky’s ploy and heads out to find him, but when he finally catches up to him, both become horribly lost in the bush. But by that time, their disappearance has become a nationwide kidnapping story with Hec being labelled as some kind of pervert. The search parties and hovering helicopters give the film a “Thelma and Louise” vibe at times, and the quest to find them is led by Paula (a hilarious Rachel House), an obsessed child protective services officer who is convinced that Hec has abducted the child.
Despite all the hubbub of the search, “Hunt For the Wilderpeople” is essentially a two-hander in which Hec finally breaks down his defenses to really get to know this troublesome kid. From his work in such art films as “The Piano” and Hollywood blockbusters like “Jurassic Park,” Neill has previously shown his wide-ranging acting chops, and he’s absolutely terrific here as Hec.
But the movie wouldn’t work without Dennison’s performance, and he’s just about perfect as Ricky, practicing his gangsta walk while hoping to hide the fact that he’s just a scared chubby kid. Dennison is able to bring out all of Ricky’s insecurities, but the young actor paces these revelations skillfully. Hopefully, the success of the film will give his career a jump-start, and we’ll see more of him again.
As he did with the mockumentary “What We Do in the Shadows” last year, Waititi walks a very fine between a genre picture and a black comedy, and, if anything, this film is even more successful in achieving that duality than “Shadows.” On the one hand, Te Wiata is heartbreakingly maternal in her response to this young boy, while at the same time House is just nuts as the authoritarian social worker. The fact that Waititi can juggle both of these tones in the same movie is an achievement in itself.
For a summer movie season that has produced disappointment after disappointment, a small gem like “Hunt For the Wilderpeople” is made even more precious and is definitely worth your time should it come your way.
GRADE: B+
