JoJo Rabbit

I absolutely loved this movie, but have to admit is very quirky and will not be everyone’s cup of tea.  The story follows ten year old JoJo “Rabbit” Betzler (a fine acting debut by Roman Griffin Davis) as an ultra wannabe Hitler Youth living in mythical Falkenheim, Germany approaching the end of WWII.  Jojo seems kind of lonely, his mother is frequently out and his soldier father has been missing for almost two years.  Jojo despretely wants to become a Hitler Youth and is aided in this undertaking by his imaginary friend – Adolf Hitler himself – played with buffoonish gusto by the writer and director Taika Waititi.  But his efforts fall seriously short and he is relegated to simple tasks under the mentorship of Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell) and his erstwhile assistants played by Alfie Allen and Rebel Wilson.  Jojo carries on as things start to fall apart, and his dogmatic beliefs are shattered when he meets and eventually befriends a Jewish girl that his mother is hiding.  The movie is full of satire, both serious and humorous.  I loved the ridiculous Nazis characters played by Sam Rockwell and Rebel Wilson as well as the scenes of the absurdity and devestation of war.  Waititi has concocted a mix of the serious historical realities with absurdist comic flights of fancy.  We could take a few lessons from how Jojo’s fanatical belief in everything he has been told, including that Jews have horns and live in caves like bats, are punctured and exploded like a holiday balloon.  I found this movie a little reminiscent of “Moonlight Kingdom,” which I also loved.  Do not be fooled by the humorous undertones of this movie, it is a serious topic and doesn’t gloss over some realities of what happened in German towns (the things depicted did happen, and often) as Hitler’s empire was taken apart.  You may even tear up a time or two.  This is definitely a well-deserving award contender.  See you at the Oscars, JoJo!