Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Directed by Taika Waititi. Starring Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Scarlett Johansson, Taika Waititi, Sam Rockwell, Archie Yates, Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant, Luke Brandon Field, Sam Haygarth. [R]

In the waning days of the war, young Johannes (Davis) dreams of becoming a Nazi and serving the Fatherland—he even has Adolf Hitler (Waititi) as an imaginary friend—but he begins to have doubts after discovering a Jewish girl (McKenzie) hiding in his attic and realizing that’s she’s nothing like the despicable stereotypes he’d been taught about her people. Writer/director Waititi’s idiosyncratic Nazi comedy is more “daring” than “brave,” the distinction being that he’s willing to push boundaries for a nervous-but-genuine laugh, yet he still mostly stays in safe territory by not addressing the ugliest truths, and only directly dealing with darkness when plumbing for sentiment or sadness—less the black comedy or satire it appears to be on the surface than an irreverent lampoon with a reassuring heart. The whimsical nature of the humor does, however, successfully capture the absurdity of war and the ignorance of evil, and the film rarely falls short on the task of being entertaining and/or touching. Smart casting invigorates the material, even if Rockwell could do this sort of role in his sleep by now and McKenzie’s youth-in-hiding is more of an emblem or prop than fully-realized character. Waititi’s script won an Academy Award. Alfie Allen has a cameo.

79/100