Thirty minutes in, I was ready to write off this little-known 2007 release from New Zealand as a terribly misguided Napoleon Dynamite rip-off gone horribly awry. It was simply too dry, awkward, and scattered for its own good.But as I continued to watch, something seemed quite right about it. I realized it was Lily's persistent grace that (at least, almost) redeemed the film and made it worth watching. Among a family full of dysfunction and bitterness, she stands out in her selfless and relentless love, and in the fact that she "never complains about anything."
After a quaint stop-motion sequence of Lily and her sleeping bag chasing Jarrod and his, Jarrod asks in a moment of self-revelation, "I'm a loser, aren't I?" Beautifully, Lily simply responds, "Doesn't matter."
And that made the 90 otherwise-mostly-dull minutes worth it.
2 comments:
Lucky! I've been wanting to see this for quite some time
you would probably like it, i think. the napoleon dynamite similarities really are quite unbelievable. but instead of having it being a funny non-sensical movie, they tried to infuse it with some drama and artsiness, and it just didn't seem to work for me.
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