2016
Directed By Taika Waititi
Starring: Sam Neill and Julian Dennison
Hunt for the Wilderpeople effortlessly
combines elements of a typical coming-of-age comedy with a fish out of water tale
and despite treading on well-traveled ground manages to create something
completely original. This film absolutely exists in its own world and while it
might draw comparisons to others, those comparisons will only be surface level
and in no way speak to the sheer originality of the film.
Weened on Gangster Rap and foster care, Ricky is given what
appears to be his last chance at family life in the New Zealand countryside.
His caring Aunt Bella makes adjusting to rural living seamless. When a
tragedy strikes that threatens to ship Ricky to another home, both he and Hec
go on the run. HFW is essentially about a troubled pre-teen and his
reluctant guardian discovering what it means to be family. Sam Neill gives an understated, grumpy performance as Hec that
absolutely plays to his strengths and Julian Dennison’s Ricky is one of my
favorite characters I’ve seen on screen this year. While both actors are given
pretty solid dialogue it’s what they do with quite moments, how they react,
that elevates this film above your standard quirky indie comedy.
Writer and director Taika Waititi has been attached to the Hunt
for the Wilderpeople project since 2005, when executive producer
Charlie McClellan hired him to addapt the Barry Crump classic Wild Pork and
Watercress into a feature film script. Jumping at the chance, Waititi
delivered a script for the ambitious project, which ultimately stayed shelved
for years. But, in 2013, a meeting with the Crump family put the rights
for a film version of the book back on the table and rekindled Waititi’s fire
for the project.
The film has a laid back approach to the way it views its
characters, despite their glaring idiosyncratic ways. Most filmmakers would
navel gaze if dealing with such rich behavior but Taika Waititi just allows
them to be. Over the top characters are too often judged by the director and in
turn they become judged by the audience. I was given 101 minutes in Waititi’s
world as a passive observer and about 15 minutes in I remembered, I was
watching a movie. I remembered it would be over soon and I was already looking
forward to the next time I could watch it.
This has been somewhat of a rough year at the box office and
this film comes as a welcome
breath of fresh air.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople is
currently playing in limited release.
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