Whale Rider

Starring: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Cliff Curtis, Grant Roa
Directed by: Niki Caro
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
2003

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary:
A young girl, Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes) butts heads with her traditionalist grandfather (Rawiri Paratene) when she tries to take part in customs reserved for the possible male leaders of the tribe. She is convinced she is supposed to be the tribal leader, and sets out to prove her grandfather wrong.

Review:

Tim: I do not share the sentiment of most critics, that this is one of the most beloved films of the year. I thought it was decent, and definitely featured some impressive performances. However, the movie as a whole leaves something to be desired. I thought it could be so much more effective. The film works to a certain extent, but I do not think it is a great movie.

One of my big problems with this film is that it squanders some opportunity for real emotional moments. I know others will disagree with me here, but I thought the movie could have had a bigger emotional punch. I like that director Niki Caro makes this a movie about one family's dysfunction. There are some truly sad moments in the film, and my heart really did go out to young Pai. However, the movie strays too much in between these emotional moments. There are some downright boring scenes as we wait for the story to progress. The movie is only 101 minutes, but it drags in some places and feels much longer.

This film works mostly because of the performance of Keisha Castle-Hughes. For such a young actor, she is terrific. I am glad she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. I am glad she was recognized for her amazing performance. She is at times inspiring and heartbreaking. The rest of the supporting cast is quite good as well. The cast is one of the film's strongest aspects.

I almost feel bad I didn't like this movie more. I definitely understand the appeal of it, and it certainly does have some beautiful, memorable moments. However, I just wanted more. The "whale rider" scene near the end is good, but it could have been so powerful. I thought in the hands of a better director, this movie would have actually been the masterpiece so many people wanted it to be.

Whale Rider is a movie that features one remarkable, beautiful performance by a twelve or thirteen year-old. The fact that the rest of the movie does not live up to its potential takes nothing away from Castle-Hughes' performance. I would recommend this movie for her alone, but the movie itself is a little disappointing.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



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