Release: 26th of August

Length: 88 minutes

Rating: M (Mature themes, coarse language, drug use and violence)

I'm sorry to say I knew nothing of Boy before I saw it. As soon as the New Zealand Film Commission title appeared on the screen I was terrifed I'd made a huge mistake. My head filled with terrible images - proud Maoris walking along the beach, whales, girls who ride them and, most loathed of all, divorced middle-aged, middle class women with dyed red hair exclaiming "Brilliant! Brilliant!" at all three plot points. A mournful Tim Finn song from his terrible later work would probably be on the soundtrack as well ("Brilliant! Brilliant!").

At this point I'd like to apologise to the people of New Zealand (except Tim Finn, reunite Split Enz circa 1975 or fuck off) and the director of Boy, Taika Waititi. Boy isn't just the best New Zealand film ever released, it's also the best film I've seen all year.

Yes, it's even better than The Bounty Hunter.

Boy tells the story of "Boy" (James Rolleston), an eleven year old Maori child left to look after his brother and younger cousins when his grandma goes to a funeral in Auckland. Left to his own devices, he does what kids do - talks to his pet goat, calls his younger brother (Rocky, played by Te Aho Aho Eketone-Whitu) an "egg" several dozen times and attempts to impress the hottest girl in school with his unique interpretation of the Moonwalk (an enterprise that, perhaps inebvitably, fails).

More than anything Boy idolises his imprisoned father, Alamein (Taika Waititi). When Alamein returns (along with the other two members of his incompetent gang, the Crazy Horses, and his "primo" car) Boy is delighted to discover that his Dad is everything he thought he'd be.

Unfortunately, as is always the case, it doesn't take long for Boy to discover his Dad is a loser.

Boy is ball-bouncingly hilarious. It is so funny you will bring shame upon your family by urinating in your trousers in the cinema. Boy is funnier than all of the alleged comedies I've seen all year (I Love You Too, I'm looking at you). Along with City Island, Boy is the perfect demonstration of how strategically placed comic moments can lighten the dark, and in this vein it even manages to create a kind of poigancy. It draws us in and helps us relate to the characters.

As Boy, James Rolleston is perfect, bringing exactly the right amount of innocence and fake chutzpah to every scene. "Wanna see some Michael Jackson moves?" he dares the local hottie, her interest piqued by his false confidence. He fails, but isn't that part of being eleven?

As the film progresses, it darkens, but in such a subtle, dramatic way that you won't even notice that the laughs have dried up. Alamein goes from bumbling incompetent to dangerously incompetent, and his failure to find the money brings out his darker side.

Boy also contains a pointed message about how indemic drug use in closed communities, and how so often drugs are used as a means of escape. Female friend Dynasty tells Boy not to "become like all the other dope heads out here" and she should know. Dynasty harvests the crop for her biker parents.

A special mention also has to go to Taika Waititi who is fantastic as Alamein, perfectly pulling off a mixture of dopiness and inadequacy. As writer, director and one of the stars of this film he's marked himself as one to watch. If he ever produces anything in Australia the local media will no doubt prefix his name with "Our" (at least until he starts hurling phones, shouting anti-semitic abuse or recording mediocre albums like Imaginary Kingdom or The Conversation). One would imagine he'll skip our miserly film industry and head where the big bucks are. This guy can make it.

So go and see Boy, or I'll kick both your nuts off. And then you'll have none.

High Distinction.