Parents' Guide to Hunt for the Wilderpeople

This charming odd-couple adventure is the well-acted story of a down-and-out Maori kid and his grouchy foster parent. Quirky and offbeat like all of director Taika Waititi's films, Hunt for the Wilderpeople could have devolved into the cliched or overly familiar (how many stories are there are about foster kids or orphans?), but it manages to stay on the right side of endearing thanks to the chemistry between Dennison and Neill, who, despite having a perpetual frown, looks like he was having the time of his life acting opposite Dennison's dynamic force of optimism and cheer.

As the loving and attentive Bella, Te Wiata is the ideal foster mom, paying attention to all the little details, like making sure Ricky has a "hottie" (hot water bottle) on his pillow every night to keep him warm and cuddly. But she's also fierce enough to slit a wild pig's throat and then casually say to Ricky "well, that's dinner." Her foil is the hilariously hard-nosed child protective services' case worker Paula, who will stop at nothing to "rescue" a boy she considers a "bad egg." But this isn't ultimately their story. It's the story of city-kid Ricky, who learns to appreciate and even love the bush as much as his "uncle" Hec, a man who may not know how to read words but knows how to survive -- something they both become adept at doing together.