Jojo Rabbit

[Drunk Monk]

I was determined to see a movie in a theater today, an Oscar nom, and it was between this and 1917.  Taika won out obviously.  Luv his work.  

But this one was uneven at best. It's a tricky subject - a coming of age film for a Hitler youth.  Taika is great at directing kids, especially if they are a bit chubby.  And he plays Adolf, the youth's imaginary friend.  It took a bit to get accustomed to the Oz-Zealand accents with the Nazis, and of course, it's riddled with that offbeat Taika sense of humor.  ScarJo is amazing as always. Rebel has become a caricature of herself, but she kinda has always been so.  The kids, Roman, Tomasin and Archie are all great. And Sam Rockwell too.  It's funny, witty, ironic, even acerbic, and it sets up that inevitable gut punch because...well Nazis. This is war, WWII to be exact. In the end, it didn't quite work for me.  There was some solid stuff, the ultimate message felt too neutral.  This feels like the weakest Taika film that I've seen so far.  

No sword fights.  Not particularly DOOM recommended unless you're a Taika fanboy.

[Drunk Monk]

well, at least this won adapted screenplay.

i shoulda gone for 1917...

[Greg]

I liked it. Maybe it works better in a smaller setting. New Zealand-Deutsch is a bit odd. But ScarJo held her accent the whole time. I thought Sam Rockwell did an amazing job. But then doesn't he always? Go ahead. Name a bad Sam Rockwell role. Not a movie, just the role.

When the film started, I was getting a lot of dirty looks from tQ with all the Leni Riefenstahl footage in the credits. But she eventually warmed to it, even Taika's Hitler 

Some of the scenes did get a bit repetitive like the interactions between Jojo and Elsa. There were too many of those. But the interactions with Jojo and Yorki were the best. The film could have used more of Yorki.

[thatguy]

I tasted notes of Wes Anderson and Airplane!

I enjoyed it...

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

Saw this again. Stacy hadn't seen it. She liked it. I liked it better on the second viewing. I think Greg's comment about it being better on the small screen is valid. Also, knowing where it was going, I could see the writing structure better, which was astute - some good foreshadowing. I stand by my original review only it worked for me better on the second viewing. In retrospect, the fact that I went for this instead of 1917 might have tainted my reaction. 1917 is much more of a big screen film.