JOJO RABBIT
A young boy, JoJo (Roman Griffin Davis), has dreams of being a big part of Hitlers army...with help from his imaginary friend Adolph. Well things change when he finds his mother Rosie (Scarlett Johannson) has secrets.
A polarizing movie for sure. I think you either get it or don't. I get it. It makes fun of the stupidity of Nazis and the place and time of the idiotic references to the Jewish community. It is satire for sure...with an anti-hate message. Finishing the film with Hero song in German of course, a hero can be a small little boy with scars on his face. Director Watiti took a chance here with this awkward story and it oddly works.
The positives in this film are the performances and the quick writing. What will shock you is that the trailer is deceiving. It comes across as a straight comedy in the trailer but, that is maybe the first 10 minutes. Then things change quick and it becomes a story of two people from two different worlds learning to get along and survive (At the same time it is odd with British accents often)
I wanted to highlight the wonderful performances:
Roman Griffin Davis is wonderful here carrying the film on his small shoulders.
Thomasin McKenzie as Elsa is great. I said when I saw her in Leave No Trace that she is a star...well I rest my case.
Scarlett Johannson plays a soft quiet role here as JoJo's mom...with secrets.
Sam Rockwell (Captain Klenzendorf); Rebel Wilson (Fraulein Rahm); and Taika Waititi (Adolf) all add often hilarious moments to the film.
I had one negative and that is I wish we would have jumped in time 10 years or so and see what became of two of the characters in the end.
I know this film may not work in today's world of everyone is a victim; and everyone has hurt feelings, as for me, I get the story and surprisingly it is kind of sweet.
4 1/2 out of 5 stars...it is a smart and clever film mixing in satire...heartbreak...and love.
From the shadows as always thanks for your time.
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