Little Boy
Year: 2015
Rating: PG-13
Length: 106 minutes / 1.77 hours
When it comes to movies with strong Christian messages, often the resulting movie is weak for a variety of other reasons. This might be because of poorly written characters, plot holes, or an overall lack of cinematic quality in the movie itself. This is why I absolutely adore Little Boy (2015). There are many great Christian values presented here, including faith and accepting others. However, the little twists put in the plot of this World War II story make it just that much better than a generic Christian film. If only more Christian movies were made like this, then maybe the (valid) stigma against Christian media might be reduced.
Perhaps the one aspect of Little Boy that strikes me as the most unique is the xenophobia against Hashimoto (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa). There have been plenty of movies about World War II, but you don’t see many of them addressing the racism against the Japanese living in the United States. That Father Oliver (Tom Wilkinson) encourages the titular Little Boy (Jakob Salvati) to befriend the harassed Hashimoto just goes to show the Biblical concept of loving others despite what they (or their countrymen) have done to you. We could definitely use more of that today.
And while some may downplay acts of God as mere coincidences, these moments in Little Boy are quite amusing twists that drive the conversation of faith in the little seaside town. There were points where I laughed out loud when the connection between something and its eventual resolution finally clicked (e.g., “Little Boy” having more than one meaning). Overall, Little Boy is charming, challenging, and poignant in ways that make me recommend more people see this hidden gem of a movie.
The right way to do a Christian movie on faith and accepting others, I give Little Boy 5.0 stars out of 5.
