Hunt for the Wilderpeople: ★★★★★

Have you seen Hunt for the Wilderpeople?  The movie with Dr. Grant from Jurassic Park, except he's a lot older, a kiwi, and not the terrifying doctor from Event Horizon?  No link was included to that last movie because it is absolutely terrifying and even just Google searching the words "Event Horizon" has damned me to a week of nightmares.  I saw Event Horizon in theater with my uncle, and the two of us were equally terrified, even though he was a grown man and I was old enough to know movies aren't real.  The scene in the air duct?  Are you kidding me?  That same uncle and I also cried at the end of the Travolta movie, Phenomenon.  That terminal brain cancer?  Are you kidding me?  I'd like to think that hiding my eyes in terror and/or wiping tears away from them are simply signs that I'm getting lost in the story and suspending my disbelief.  I know that there is neither a hellish dimension full of demons that latch onto blackhole traveling ships, nor a cancer that causes hyperintelligence and telekinesis.

That said, I enjoy going to the movies.  So much so, that when I had some free time in Asheville, I took a ride down to the Fine Arts Theatre on Biltmore Ave (not helpful since everything is named Biltmore down there) just to see what was playing.  You know it's fancy because they switched up the 'e' and the 'r'.  When I saw Sam Neill on the poster, I figured Wilderpeople had to be good, and holy crap was it great!

http://wilderpeople.film/#tumblr

The premise is that Sam Neill's wife (Aunt Bella) takes in a troubled youth (Ricky) in a last ditch effort to save him from himself.  Hec (Neill) is not keen on the idea, as he does not like people, especially children.  The only person he likes is Bella, and that's enough for Ricky to get to stay.  In fact, if not for Bella, Hec would be more than content to live in the woods for the rest of his life and never see another person again.

Bella and Hec live in the middle of rolling hills and lush green forest, a few hours drive from civilization.  There they are self-sufficient and live off the land.  Ricky is from the city and wants to be a rapper.  He has no idea how to survive in the wilderness nor does he have any interest in learning how.  What a setup for ensuing hijinks!

Cut to... Ricky and Hec hiding from authorities in the woods for a few months.  Not just the police, but local hunters eager to get a reward for catching them.  Watching that little city boy learn to live in the woods?  Watching that cranky old man learn to live with a child?  Watching bumbling authorities try to bring them in while the rest of the country cheers them on?  It all makes for a very enjoyable movie.  I highly recommend it.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople: ★★★★★