Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.
A film like this would have little chance without the right casting, and James Rolleston is so right as Boy, it's difficult to imagine anyone else. Read full review
A delightful discovery, a charming little film about fathers, sons, New Zealand and Michael Jackson. Read full review
Mr. Waititi, a popular standup comic in New Zealand, is wonderfully droll and entertaining in this acting role, which isn't all that far, geography and culture notwithstanding, from Steve Zahn at his stoner best. Read full review
This charming kid's-eye movie, full of comical and vivid detail about the lives of these cheerful children, has the loose, lanky feel of a memoir and of French New Wave films. Read full review
A funny and touching coming-of-age story. Read full review
Hyper-stylized, funny, a crowd-pleaser. Read full review
Boy begins with an epigram from E.T.: "You could be happy here . . . . We could grow up together." That's what the film is about - finding happiness, growing up, feeling like a stranger in a strange world. Read full review
Waititi retains his quirky style, but it feels meaningful here, a valid effort to explore the difficulties in coming of age during tough times. Read full review
The New Zealand feature Boy almost pulls off the trick of merging cartoonish humor and '80s pop culture with a story glancing at deeper family issues. The film has an appealing 11-year-old hero, but in the end feels half baked. Read full review
Less concerned with rendering the specifics of its setting (a small Maori town on the New Zealand coast) than in calling on bouts of whimsy and superficial cultural signifiers to approximate the headspace of its central characters. Read full review