The Coming-of-Age genre grabs your attention in a manner that I have yet to fathom. Life is life, and every phase should be equally as fascinating as the next one. And yet, there is something extra captivating about those stories. Perhaps this explains why such films are abundant during the year. Some relate better than others, and today there will be a focus on one of those films.
Moving to the plot, we flash to the coast of New South Wales where we see a young boy named Rockit (Rasmus King) surfing. While Rockit struggles with school and a need to spend more time surfing, his father Bosch (Luke Hemsworth) earns a living by selling marijuana that grows on his land in the hills. Life is good until Bosch’s partner and local cop Keith (Michael Sheasby) bring in a new boss Derek (Martin Sacks) who wants them to start selling cocaine as well. This becomes an issue, and before Bosch can find a solution, a bushfire starts and drives the cops right to Bosch’s farm. Knowing he is wanted by both honest and corrupt police, Bosch takes it upon himself to escape the farms with Rocket or as he puts it, go on ‘holiday’.
The first detail that stands out about Bosch & Rockit is its sheer beauty. There is a running joke that all Australian films have drone shots, but with scenery like this, it is justified. It is also used to showcase the water on the coast, from the clean barrels in the surf to the tea tree-stained creeks that flow into the sea. Underwater photography, especially water and underwater shots, is fantastic, and it is evident that a lot of skill is poured into capturing them. This film is obsessed with sunsets and sunrises, and surfing in the golden hour makes it feel like a proper thematic dressing rather than just looking good. Speaking of the production design, I would also like to draw attention to the most impressive aspect in my opinion, which is the sound design. This is the only film I have ever watched that captures what sand sounds like when you walk on it.
The film has done something clever by setting a period that is not explicitly mentioned. If escaped all the rural and coastal areas portions of the film, you wouldn’t quite register that no one has mobile phones. There is no mobile phone network, but rather, profoundly nostalgic moments exist where The Living End’s Prisoner of Society needle drops and you feel like you’re slapped back into the past. People really use their home phones in this was the part of the film that wrecked my realization. Then there was the terrible dial-up internet sound on the line. Not being able to call someone because they were busy getting online truly is high school, and definitely has made a bunch of beard hairs take the easy way out and turn grey. Either way, the film is positioned on the right edge of the Potato Scallop, Potato Cake conflict, which is most certainly commendable.
In the case of the acting, the two newcomers, Rasmus King & Savannah La Rain, deserve praise and credit for their performance in this film.
Most of the emotional burden falls on them and properly guides us through years of history. That is a task that requires a lot of effort given the content of the history, and I always bought where they situated themselves in the world. This is also supported by mainstays Luke Hemsworth & Isabel Lucas, who also add intense and quirky flavor to the production. There is a level of menace permeating the background of the film thanks to the almost comical villainess of detective Derek which is enough to give the narrative justification while not enough to overwhelm the core of the narrative.
This takes us giving us the backbone of the film and its single greatest flaw. The bond between Bosch and Rockit is core to everything happening in this film. The story’s main thrust is that they are Thelma & Louise-ing it without Rockit knowing that they are Thelma & Louise it. From here, we get many of the film’s more comical moments, as the two sides of the argument answer each other with words that would most likely make the person who writes the IMDB parents’ guide blush a couple of times.
The bond is important to the story because simply love and care alone are not enough to warrant trust, and betrayals loom large. However, as the film goes on that bond is put aside, and from this point forward, the film, rather regrettably, stumbles to the conclusion instead of concluding with the same vigor it commenced. While I understand this is likely the result of the adaptation being a biopic, and those tend to not have clean narratives, it’s still a problem.
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