In 1950, James Stewart had a hit film wherein he played a character who had an imaginary friend, a jumbo-sized rabbit named Harvey. Today, “Harvey” refers to you-know-who, and the imaginary friend in Jojo Rabbit is Adolf Hitler. How times have changed. Writer-director Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok; Hunt for the Wilderpeople), brings his signature style of humor and pathos to his latest film, a World War II satire that follows a lonely German boy whose world view is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother is hiding a young Jewish girl in their attic. Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler, Jojo must confront his blind nationalism. With Scarlett Johansson, Rebel Wilson and Sam Rockwell.
With closed captioning on Monday, November 18 at 7:00pm.
“…the movie filters the banality and evil of the Third Reich through the consciousness of a smart, sensitive, basically ordinary German child. Veering from farce to sentimentality, infused throughout with…anarchic pop humanism…it risks going wrong in a dozen different ways and manages to avoid at least half of them.” — A.O. Scott, New York Times
“It’s Waititi’s ability to balance unassailably goofy moments with an acknowledgment of real-life horrors that makes the movie exceptional.” — Stephanie Zacharek, TIME Magazine
“A sprightly, attractively composed coming-of-age comedy set in World War II Germany, Jojo Rabbit is an audacious high-wire act.” — Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
“A few minutes in, and you’re already choking on your giggles.” — David Fear, Rolling Stone
Taika Waititi
Christine Leunens (novel), Taika Waititi (screenplay)
Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Scarlett Johansson, Taika Waititi
Czech Republic, New Zealand, USA
Fox Searchlight Pictures