Just saw JoJo Rabbit today in theaters. Sadly none of the local theaters are playing Uncut Gems anymore so this was my fallback. I mean seeing the trailer made me think this film was right up my alley but I was still kinda ambivalent about watching it in theaters. But gave it a shot and it was a pretty good movie. One of my favorites.
It was definitely entertaining and the whole film was basically a decent Try Not to Laugh Challenge it seemed with all of the (largely defanged) dark humor it had within it. I'm guessing only Directors like Taiki Wakiki could make a film like this, weaving such a dark setting with aberrant humor so shamelessly not just because he's a talented Director, but his identity provides him some insulation from criticism (though skimming over the reviews, not all of the stupid criticism of this film). It was very funny throughout but it blended tragedy and comedy very well so while there were laughs, it wasn't so much that it made one lost the message.
Usually dark humor movies can be pretty awkward or uneven in their tone or atmosphere (Very Bad Things being the worst example) but this movie never got into tasteless territory I feel or made things too funny you lost impact on the drama in some of the scenes or lessened the impact of anything. Which was impressive in itself, this movie really managed to somehow weave antisemitism, family issues, Nazism, and modern war themes with comedy, humor, satire and wit to a degree that was really amazing to see all blended together. Like in some scenes... I was feeling super sad and down... and laughing at the same time, the juxtaposition of comedy and tragedy was so well done.
It wasn't a perfect movie by any means, but it was a really good one worth a watch. There are issues with it, but they feel so minor to me (some jokes falling flat or being a bit eyerolling because they feel forced) but criticism on that line would've been more personal nitpicking then actual serious criticism.
Browsing over the negative/rotten reviews on RT, it seems fairly obvious that the "critiques" that these critics have would've fucking ruined the movie. For example, mouth breathing New York Times film critic A.O. Scott said "The Third Reich wasn't all fun and games" because apparently he missed all of the scenes of mass executions, soldiers with missing limbs hobbling about and women and children getting gunned down... but I digress. His other main complaint was that the Jewish characters lacked Jewishness in context. It's true... for some unfathomable reason the message that Jews are human beings like you and I was a message A.O. Scott apparently missed. The only time you saw distinct Jewishness in this movie is in the Nazi propaganda. None of the actual Jewish characters in this film displayed hooked noses, hid Jew Gold, wore horn hiding hats or feasted on Aryan foreskin. They were too busy hiding and living in desperate squalor to act too Jewish for the New York Times.
So yeah... probably one of my favorite movies of the year! Watch it!
Or don't... whatever.
If you liked Thor: Ragnarok, you'll probably thoroughly enjoy this movie. Which sounds weird to say...