Better Late than Never on "Jojo Rabbit"

In my quest to watch as many movies as I can during quarantine that I have wanted to see again, or for the first time, my wife and I sat down on Saturday night, our quarantine date night, and watched "Jojo Rabbit".

Right away, this movie is incredible. It is funny, well shot, perfectly acted, colorful, sad and triumphant. It is a beautiful movie. I loved every single second of it. I am a very big Taika Waititi fan, as you all know, so when I first heard about this movie I wanted to see it strictly because it was being directed by Waititi. I then saw the trailer for it, and that made me want to see it even more. I was supposed to see it in theaters, but when I had the time, and my father had the time, he wanted to see it too, my wife and daughter unfortunately got sick, so I stayed home to care for them. I never got another real shot to see it while in the theaters. I knew that it won an Oscar, that a ton of my friends really liked, and I figured I would see it soon enough.

So while we were picking a movie, it was my turn, I scrolled through the available movies, and as soon as I saw "Jojo Rabbit", my mind was made up. We watched it, and as I said, I loved it. My wife liked it too, but she also spent a good amount of the movie in tears. I cried while watching it too. I am not afraid to admit that. For all the accolades, good reviews and trailers I had watched I was able to avoid all spoilers. All I knew going in was the basic story, and that Waititi was not only directing, but also playing Hitler. I assumed the movie was going to be a goofy, funny and interesting look at how stupid and asinine the Nazis were. That was my idea. And while the movie has all of that in it, there is some heavy, heavy things going in. There is crushing and devastating deaths. There is a harrowing story about the main kids father. There is the Jewish girl that hides out in the attic, who Jojo's mom is helping out. There's all this, and so much more. But, I like that Waititi is doing more stuff like this. That he is willing to make movies that aren't just straight up comedy, which he is a genius at, but that he is expanding his horizons. He made a great super hero movie, so why not try a war dramedy? He did, and he crushed it.

Yes, the movie is sad, there is very tough stuff to see and it made my wife and I cry, but it was also funny. I mean, Waititi plays Hitler! Now, he is Jojo's imaginary friend, and Waititi plays him like the idiot I imagine he was, but still, to see him with that hair, those clothes and that mustache, it was wild. He played him so hilariously inept though, every time he was on screen, I was laughing. The rest of the actors were very good as well. Scarlett Johannson is tremendous in her role. She is Jojo's mom, she is anti Nazi and anti war and she is simply splendid. It's a role like this, a performance like this, that reintroduces me to how great she is. Sam Rockwell and Alfie Allen are very good as well. They play Nazi lovers, but they have hearts of gold. Rockwell is one of those actors that I always enjoy when he is in a movie. Rebel Wilson was perfectly cast as the woman worker in the Nazi office. She was made for a comedic role like this, and she thrived. And even in a small role, Stephen Merchant shows why he is such a coveted character actor in comedies. He was great. But the kids in this movie were the true stars. Jojo was played by a kid named Roman Griffin Davis, and man is he wonderful. He is so good as the fanatic young kid, who thinks he is destined to fight in the German army, but he really is a good kid underneath it all. It just needs to be pried out of him by other people in his life. The scenes between him and Waititi are so god damn funny. But, the stuff between him and Johannson is so moving and beautiful and easy to relate to as a parent myself. He should have gotten an Oscar nomination. The girl that played the Jewish kid hiding out in the attic, Thomasin McKrnzie, was so so so good. She was tough and willing to fight for herself. She also was the one that really helped Jojo realize that he is a good kid. She also was a perfect big sister type character to Jojo. And the scene where they dance together was so pretty, it made me happy cry and I think about it quite often as one of the most heart warming things I have seen in a movie in some time. And then we have Archie Yates, who played Yorki, Jojo's best friend, who was the perfect comedic foil to Jojo. Seeing him in German Army gear was great. Hearing him chastise the German Army later on was hilarious. Him telling Jo Jo that he missed him mom so much because of the war, and that he needed to "go home and get some cuddles", was the best. Yorki was amazing. All these kids were amazing.

This movie was amazing. I cannot recommend it enough. I will say, know going into it that it will make you cry, but it will also make you laugh and you will be happy at the end. I love this movie. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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