LAUREN MUSCAT sees a film with plenty of laughs amid the drama...
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (PG)
In a word: Surprising
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Julian Dennison as Ricky Baker and Sam Neill as Uncle Hec in Hunt for the Wilderpeople. “As well as providing the laughs, the film manages to tackle heavy issues like death, abandonment and the foster care system with ease, humour and tact. What could have been a very heavy film was kept light and fun, while also never neglecting to acknowledge the not-so-fun parts of life and growing up.” |
I’m convinced. Everything Kiwi director Taika Waititi puts his hand to turns to cinematic gold.
Director of bonafide Kiwi classics such as 2010’s Boy and 2014’s What we do in the Shadows (up there in my favourite movies), Waititi now brings us Hunt for the Wilderpeople, a cross-country goose chase for a pre-teen delinquent and his bushman guardian.
The film follows the story of Ricky Baker (played by Julian Dennison), a menace to society and product of the foster care system who is dropped into the hands of sweet-natured Bella (Rima Te Wiata) and her gruff, ever-silent husband Hector (Sam Neill) in the heart of the Kiwi bushland.
After tragedy strikes the small family, Ricky runs away, closely followed by Hec. What results is perhaps the world’s largest scale game of hide-and-seek. A manhunt, complete with bounty hunters, black-ops police and eventually the army, ensues. The backdrop of the stunning North Island wilderness sets the scene for a mad bush adventure.
The story hardly reads as a comedy but the jokes come thick and fast. With a bunch of in-jokes for the Kiwis and broader humour for the rest of us, a laugh was never far away.
As well as providing the laughs, the film manages to tackle heavy issues like death, abandonment and the foster care system with ease, humour and tact. What could have been a very heavy film was kept light and fun, while also never neglecting to acknowledge the not-so-fun parts of life and growing up.
Star of the film Dennison is an absolute delight and easily the highlight of the film, with comic timing far beyond his years. Any 12-year-old who can outshine Sam Neill is onto a winner.
I’m a little bit in love with this film, emotional rollercoaster though it was at times. I cringed, I frowned, I gasped and I laughed. A lot. I can’t hope for much else in a cinema. A “real bad egg”, a brooding bushman and a dog named Tupac; it’s a recipe for comedic gold with massive heart. I can’t wait to see what Waititi does next.
