Nov 18 2019 06:44 PM
You know the one. You know the one? The ostensible "satire," getting a wild mix of great notices and is-this-in-good-taste pearl-clutching? The one with writer-director Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, What We Do In The Shadows) guiding the ship... AND playing the imaginary-friend Hitler? Y'know, this one?
Since I saw it last week and have finally allowed myself to read the reviews, I've seen it described in multiple places as "Moonreich Kingdom," which is certainly a bit glib but not altogether inaccurate. It's certainly assembled as lovingly-- licensed and expertly-deployed German versions of Bowie and the Beatles, sharp production design, sure-handed lenswork-- as any Wes Anderson tweefest. It's also got a little of the same smirky charm and feel. The reason I dubious-quote-marked "satire" above is that the film's jokes are a little less bone-crunching than you'd like from a proper one, which limits its effectiveness as such... in a way, for all its ambition in tonal-bridging, when it comes to the humor and the pathos, it seems to be swinging for singles and gap hits-- observational notices, moments of touching rapport, playful comments on the historical goings-on-- rather than big, looping Oscar-y home runs. There's a lot of interesting dramatic things raised here with the character arcs, not all of which are explored fully. The main character's arc is interesting and rewarding, but others ring less true, and range from flat and pointless (Rebel Wilson's slapstick Nazi-youth matron) to why-God-why (Sam Rockwell, doing a weirdly sympathetic, Teutonic, cracked-mirror version of what he did to Oscar-winning effect in Three Billboards...). Almost all of the principals' performances are excellent; Scarlett Johansson as the lead's mother is nimble and nuanced in a way she's rarely allowed to be in her recent projects, Tamsin McKenzie (who was GREAT in the excellent family-off-the-grid drama Leave No Trace) is subtle and effective as a Jewish refugee, and the kids (notably, lead Roman Griffin Davis and his round-faced buddy Archie Yates) are adorable-without-being-cloying AND possessed of crazy-precocious comic timing. There's a zesty surreality to the movie that's very much a Waititi thing and also matches its protagonists' 10-year-old viewpoint... yet, there's also a disjointed thing going on that sorta maybe hobbles the thing in spots. Much like this summation, the film's a very mixed bag. It's also very much worth seeing. I'm still not sure where I ultimately land on the thing.
Und du?