Jojo Rabbit (dir: Taika Waititi)

As I was working on my schedule for this year, I went back-and-forth several times on whether to include this in my final list. While I’m a big fan of his earlier work like “What We Do in the Shadows” or “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”, the idea of a young German boy whose imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler seemed like something that could go very wrong despite the director’s best intentions. 

In the end, I decided to take in a screening. I’d like to say my concerns were proven wrong, but that wasn’t the case. 

"Jojo Rabbit" is an absurdist coming of age tale. The art direction and pacing are very reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s "Moonrise Kingdom". He does attempt to include some darkness into this very sunny and bright world. 

When Jojo discovers that his mother has been hiding a Jewish girl in the wall of their house, he is forced to confront his enthusiasm for the Reich and its Führer. His relationship with Elsa is key to the plot, but it forces the plot into areas that don't work at all, reminiscent of the relationship between Jason Schwartzman's "Max" and Olivia Williams "Rosemary" in "Rushmore". 

For the most part, Waititi plays Hitler as a fop, although there are a couple of moments when he displays the anger that we saw Hitler display in films like "Triumph of the Will". He's actually in the movie much less than is suggested in the trailers that have been released so far. 

Although the audience response was very enthusiastic, I just didn’t find it very funny and the tonal shifts didn’t work. I think I only laughed a couple of times. Some of the performances were quite good — Waititi and Scarlett Johansson in particular, but Rebel Wilson and Steve Merchant were wasted in their roles. Archie Yates is a highlight as Jojo's best friend, Yorki, who is even more clueless than his friend. 

As I write this, it's Sunday evening. Earlier today, TIFF announced that the People's Choice award for this year has gone to "Jojo Rabbit". Usually that provides a strong boost to a film's chances when the major awards are presented later in the year. It will be interesting to see if this will be the case for this film.