Boy

"Apart from the local vistas and mostly Maori cast, Waititi has scrubbed away all culturally specific traits from his growing-up-Kiwi comedy, concentrating instead on the same things that might infatuate any other 1984-era moppet: a schoolyard crush, a missing dad and, above all, Michael Jackson."

"Unmissable."

"Further proof that Wes Anderson has overtaken Quentin Tarantino as the world's most mimicked indie auteur, this Kiwi coming-of-age story employs enough quirky costuming, symmetrical framing and sub-Mothersbaugh-scored slo-mo sequences to make Max Fischer blush."

"This unpretentious comic tale of a youngster’s growing relationship with a long-absent father has a surprising rhythmic genius: joy juxtaposed with humiliation, silliness with sadness, fantasy with reality, and none of it formulaic. The editing feels fresh, as does the film."

"'Boy' shows a community adrift in the present."

"The thing with Taika Waititi's wildly successful short film, Two Cars, One Night, was that it lasted only 11 minutes. Just long enough to generate a smile, and take a whole lot of us back to pub car parks in the '70s."

"Funny, heartbreaking, wonderful."

"It feels like a while since I smiled this wide and felt this good watching any film, kiwi or otherwise. It was a great feeling"

"Waititi never builds much momentum for his largely uneventful if sometimes inventive story."

"The result is alternately zany, sentimental, and remarkably insightful about the quirks of a child’s mind."

"A cross between "The 400 Blows" and "Slumdog Millionaire" (though not quite in their class)... James Rolleston's sweet, winning performance in the title role as a kid with a lot of potential and a vivid imagination, largely overcomes the leisurely storytelling. It's a crowd-pleasing film that could find a modest theatrical audience."

"One of the unexpected triumphs of Boy, an enormously likeable coming-of-age comedy, lies in its ability to recapture the vulnerability and optimism of childhood without becoming twee or maudlin in the process."