Good Deed Entertainment
As I’m sure everyone is aware, Storm Boy is a classic Australian novel from 1966 by Colin Thiele that was also made into a beloved Australian classic in 1976. What’s that? Oh, you have no idea what I’m talking about? That’s a relief, I hadn’t heard of it either.
Storm Boy comes from director Shawn Seet, mainly known for directing a lot of episodes of Australian television shows, and is an adaptation of the novel of the same name. In that book, a story is told of a young boy simply called ‘Storm Boy’ although the 1976 film gives him the name of Mike. This latest version uses a narrative wrapper that starts quite cleverly and ends with a bit of whimper.
In the modern day, old and retiring businessman Mike (Geoffrey Rush) is bored sitting through meetings about conservations, when he suddenly gets mysterious visions of a storm and his past. It leads him to talk to his granddaughter about the story of his life as a boy, helping connect because his son and her father is a bit of a dick.
As a boy (Finn Little), he lives in a coastal town with his father called Hideaway Tom (Australia’s own national hero Jai Courtney) who fishes for a living. They live a fairly solitary existence alone, with the mother (at first) a mysterious and clearly tragic absence. Storm Boy (or Mike) likes to explore the natural area, staying away from people, but he runs into and meets a fellow recluse and outsider, Fingerbone Bill (Trevor Jamieson — his father is actually played by the actor from the first movie) an Aboriginal man with clear connections to the land.
There are elements here that are a bit clichéd, but the character is giving only respect, and has more layers than it might first appear. Things get a bit dicey when Mike Storm Boy discovers a nest of orphaned baby pelicans and wants to save them. Although it’s a clearly complex task, Tom allows his son to adopt the birds and attempt to raise them. Soon enough they begin to grow, and get bigger and bigger, eating many pounds of fish a day.
But although Mike is attached to them all, he is closest to the smallest one, who he has named Mister Percival like the knight of old legend. And the bird is quite close to him too, more unusual than a bird might be in that attachment. Eventually Mike gets to the point of having to teach them to fish on their own and maybe even learn to fly — and perhaps say goodbye. All while those evil hunters are around with their guns and hats.
At one point, there is one scene of terror and rescue that hits an emotional high point in the movie, so high in fact that the movie can never quite recover. It tries though, and ends with a fairly milquetoast, clichéd ending that feels out of place with the more introspective, emotionally considerate rest of the movie.
Aside from the impressive animal handling, what is truly impressive are the great shots of nature and truly excellent, subtle acting from these three actors, especially young Finn Little, who acts in an effortless, resonant way rare for such a young actor. He really impressed me, and his connection with Mister Percival felt truly real.
It’s really a shame that the movie ends in a way that makes the rest of the movie not as good, or that the movie doesn’t quite have a handle on that narrative wrapper. But the scenes as Storm Boy as a boy work almost uniformly well, and it was an emotional, highly watchable story that was about empathy and connection and perhaps even understanding of land and our own families.
There are likely purists of the book and first movie angry at adaptation choices, but I have no nostalgic connects to either so I must judge here as is — and for me, the movie mostly works.
Storm Boy has a run time of 1 hour 38 minutes and is rated PG for some thematic elements, mild peril and brief language.
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