Standing Tall in
a Time of War
By Chris Sabga
 |
Release Date: April 24, 2015 – U.S.
Rating:
PG-13
Genre: Drama,
War
Running Time:
106 minutes
Director:
Alejandro Monteverde
Writers:
Alejandro Monteverde,
Pepe
Portillo
Cast:
Jakob
Salvati, Michael Rapaport,
Emily Watson, Kevin James, Ted Levine,
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, David Henrie,
Ben Chaplin, Tom Wilkinson,
Abraham Benrubi
|
After
"Little Boy" was recommended to me by three people of
wildly different backgrounds and interests, I knew it was a movie I
had to see. I initially
dismissed it based on the trailer, which is one of the most
misleading in recent memory. It really does this fine film a
disservice, by erroneously portraying the boy's beliefs as a magic
act that literally allows him to move a mountain.
(The notoriously deceptive trailer for the otherwise good "Bridge
to Terabithia" is almost more honest.) Yes,
it's said that faith the size of a mustard scene can move mountains,
but the actual movie is thankfully more grounded in reality.
Don't get me wrong: "Little Boy" is
about faith. But it's the kind of faith we all live with every day,
where believing isn't necessarily seeing.
Pepper
Flynt Busbee (Jakob Salvati) – who already has an uphill battle
ahead of him with a name like that – is known as "Little Boy"
around the small town of O'Hare, Texas, for various reasons: his
young age (he's only 8), his short height and small stature, and –
worst of all – it's an
insult the local bullies shout at him when they aren't calling him a
"midget" or trying to push him around.
Dr.
Fox (Kevin James, in a rare and surprising dramatic role) reassures
him that the term "midget" is just a mean name for folks
with dwarfism, but more time is needed before an official diagnosis
can be made. This is really a ploy for him to get closer to Little
Boy's mother, Emma (Emily Watson).
The
other members of Little Boy's family are his father, James (Michael
Rapaport), and brother, London (David Henrie) – they really know
how to name them in this family! His brother tries to enlist in the
army, but his application is denied because he has flat feet – yet
another reason I wouldn't be able to join the military! Because of
that, his dad feels duty-bound to fight the good fight against the
"Japs" – as they were disdainfully referred to back then.
Little Boy's best – and only – friend is his dad, so the
separation is devastating.
Little
Boy is easily influenced, as little boys sometimes are: he parrots
hateful terms like "Jap" without understanding the full
ramifications of what he's saying, and he
feels conflicted by
the "honor" of the
atomic bomb being
"named after him." At the behest of his older – but
certainly not wiser – brother, Little Boy assists in vandalizing an
older "Jap's" house. The "enemy's" name is
Hashimoto (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), but he's far from the "fresh
off the boat" foreigner he's wrongfully perceived to be. As it
turns out, he has actually lived in the United States for over forty
years.
Hashimoto
is good friends with the local priest, Fr.
Oliver (an
endearing
Tom Wilkinson). Little Boy
eventually ends up in front of the wise clergyman, who hands him a
piece of paper and instructs him to complete several tasks. The final
– and most important – item on that list: "Befriend
Hashimoto."
Little
Boy takes his mission
seriously and does it
dutifully, but progress with the older Japanese man is slow and
unsteady at first. As
their friendship tentatively progresses, they share an ice cream together outside the parlour. It's a scene that will both touch your
heart and tickle your funny bone. Their
growing bond is one of the
most heartwarming aspects of
this film.
Unfortunately,
trouble is always right around the corner. The
tragedies of war have fueled irrational fear, hatred, and mistrust
for Hashimoto in some of the townsfolk. Little Boy's brother misses
their father, while the much older Sam (Ted Levine, who memorably
played Captain Stottlemeyer on "Monk") is grieving for his
son. They come together because they both have a bone to pick with
"the Jap" – and they're not willing to make their point
quietly. It's a twisted and toxic mirror image of the purer kinship
shared by Hashimoto and Little Boy.
What surprised me the
most: "Little Boy's" wonderful visual flourishes. This is a
stunning movie to look at! Early on, a person is shown siting on a
bench holding up a magazine with Adolf Hitler on the cover –
positioned in such a way that it almost looks like the Fuhrer's head
is attached to the reader's body. It's a very clever sight gag. Later, we see a samurai sword-fight, which unfolds dramatically as
Hashimoto reads a Japanese storybook to Little Boy. There's also a
spectacular black-and-white dream sequence highlighted by bold red imagery.
But
the real reason the film works so well is because it's filled with
great story and character details. In one scene, Little Boy has his
height measured at home, with pencil markings on the wall to indicate
his growth. It's a quiet little moment of great power that
transported me right back to my own childhood.
