Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Director: Taika Waititi
Starring: Sam Neill, Julian Dennison, Rima Te Wiata, Rhys Darby
Four stars
With a title such as Hunt for the Wilderpeople, you might expect this to be a tale about an expedition, with adventurers searching for lost tribes in far-flung places.
Well, you are almost right. Taika Waititi’s New Zealand-set odd-couple tale does involve adventure and exploration, but it is not ancient civilisations on the agenda – rather, it is companionship that the characters are in search of, as two loners reluctantly find each other in the midst of a cruel, unforgiving society.
The story begins with young delinquent Ricky (Julian Dennison) being rehomed with the loveable Bella (Rime Te Wiata) and grouchy Hec (Sam Neill) at their rural outpost. After years of being shuffled between foster homes, Ricky is initially truculent. But when he realises Bella really wants to raise him, he relaxes into life in the country. Then tragedy strikes and his world once again falls apart.
Faced with the prospect of child services coming to take him away, Ricky runs off into the bush – pursued by Hec. A catalogue of events and mishaps leave them stuck out in the wild, with the authorities mistakenly thinking that Hec has kidnapped the boy.
A manhunt ensues – but Hec, an expert bush survivor, outwits the bumbling fools on their trail.
Writer-director Waititi has built a career out of making unusual film comedies – most notably the geek romance Eagle vs Shark and the offbeat vampire tale What We Do In the Shadows. He also directed episodes of cult HBO sitcom Flight of the Conchords (Rhys Darby, who plays Conchords' hapless band manager Murray, cameos here as one of Ricky and Hec's more unusual supporters).
Yet, Hunt for the Wilderpeople might just be Waititi's most triumphant moment to date. An "us against them" story, with a dash of boy's-own adventure, Ricky and Hec's antagonistic relationship predictably starts to gradually melt – but never in a saccharine way. The humour is quirky, but never for the sake of it, and gleefully politically incorrect, in a script – by Waititi, based on the book Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump – that truly feels like it is the work of an individual, not a committee.
Likewise, Neill's career is undoubtedly distinguished, but this is one of his finest performances – certainly his best comic work since Australian movie The Dish.
His bond with young actor Dennison is perfectly judged and their gradual bonding genuinely warms the heart in ways most Hollywood movies can only dream of.
With Waititi currently filming Thor: Ragnarok, you have to hope he manages to invest his admirable idiosyncrasies into the mighty Marvel machine.
• Hunt for the Wilderpeople is in cinemas now
artslife@thenational.ae
