Boy (2010 movie)

Me tonight: "The girls have decided that I am about to watch a film with them called Boy. It's going to be a long evening."


Boy is actually, or perhaps apparently, the name of the title character.

He's an 11-year-old, uh, boy, discovering who his idolised dad actually is. Or perhaps apparently is.

OK I'll stop mincing words, and indeed sentences: I spent all of this unsure whether the boy's name actually was Boy, and indeed whether or not his old man was going to turn out to be his real dad, or an imposter. I mean he seems quite untrustworthy right from his arrival, so he therefore seemed to be lying about his identity to get unchallenged access to the land.

It didn't really matter though, as I confess that I didn't follow the plot much anyway. The atmosphere throughout this was enough to make me relax and enjoy the ride, and here again I'm catching myself on yet another word. This isn't a ride, or even a journey. It's more just transportation, which through the world of a kid in New Zealand in 1984 is all you need, if you're interested in such surroundings.

It's not often that I recognise a director by their style, but midway through this I suddenly wondered if it had come from the same mind as Eagle vs. Shark, specifically at the appearance of an animated sequence. It was, and of the two, I guess this is the one that I prefer.

Great atmosphere, funny people, and something of trip back to childhood, even though I never grew up in New Zealand.

A weak title though. I would never have sat down to watch this had it not been chosen for me by girls.

(with thanks to Sara and Katie)