Jojo Rabbit (based on the novel Caging Skies by Christine Leunens) is set in Germany in the final months of World War II. 10-year-old Johannes "Jojo" Betzler is a member of the Hitler Youth so devoted to the cause that his imaginary friend is Hitler. (At least, the boy's ridiculous vision of what Hitler must be like.) He's being raised by a loving mother, but his values are about to be challenged when he actually meets a Jewish girl.
It's hard to peg just what this movie is. It's the blackest of black comedies, to be sure; at many points during the movie, the audience at my theater was laughing uproariously. But it isn't a frivolous tale either; it most emphatically does not make light of the Holocaust, and ultimately moves into very challenging dramatic territory. Have you ever watched a snake get fed? Watching Jojo Rabbit is a bit like watching a quirky, irreverent comedy be slowly devoured by a dark and serious Holocaust film.
The performances are great. Any movie that turns on a child actor's performance is taking a considerable risk, but Roman Griffin Davis is great here as Jojo. As director, Taika Watiti gets a perfect balance from him of stubbornness and curiosity, and plenty of humor with tongue planted firmly in cheek. He gets another strong performance from another young actor, Thomasin McKenzie, who plays the Jewish girl that upends Jojo's world view. Meanwhile, Watiti's own performance as Hitler is, quite simply, hilarious. If you're here for the comedy, then there are plenty more cast members who will make you chuckle, including Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allen, and Sam Rockwell -- though Rockwell definitely makes the most of subtextual elements of his character that aren't comedic at all.
The not-so-secret weapon of the cast, however, is Scarlett Johansson as Jojo's mother. Hers is by far the most sympathetic character of the film, and a lot of the best acting is incredibly subtle work that occasionally peaks out from behind her carefully constructed emotional mask. Her character is struggling to keep her son a child under impossible circumstances, all while caught up in her own problems. It's through Johansson that the movie's more dramatic intentions slowly become known, and it's a performance I could see being nominated for Best Supporting Actress come award season.
I feel as though perhaps the movie is a little too light and fun for it to make the dramatic turn quite as swiftly as it wants at the end. The final act of Jojo Rabbit will definitely stop you short and tug on your heartstrings, though I personally wasn't as deeply moved as I believe some will be. Nevertheless, I admire the way the film presents a deeply personal story set in the war, aspiring to more than the message that "Hitler was bad."
I give Jojo Rabbit a B. It's arguably not a movie best seen on a big screen at the theater, but it's one I'd recommend in whatever venue.
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