Sam Neill anchors Waititi's Wilderpeople masterpiece
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- Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a 2016 Taika Waititi film the reviewer revisits following the "recent sad loss" of Sam Neill, calling it "arguably the masterpiece" of its writer-director.
- Sam Neill plays Hector, a grouchy foster father on a New Zealand North Island farm near the Te Urewera forests, delivering what the reviewer calls a "lovely, gentle and wise performance."
- The film adapts Barry Crump's 1986 bestseller Wild Pork and Watercress, with Waititi adding his signature irony via a droll cameo as a wacky vicar.
- Julian Dennison stars as Ricky, a tough Maori foster teen, with Rima Te Wiata as kindly foster mother Bella and Rachel House as child welfare officer Paula.
- After Bella's death, Hector and Ricky flee into the bush, sparking a nationwide manhunt that turns the pair into TV-news underdogs — a premise the reviewer compares to "Butch and Sundance and Chaplin's The Kid."
- Waititi undercuts the sentiment with dark-comedy gags, including running jokes framing Hector as a suspected child molester and a Terminator-versus-Sarah Connor spat between Paula and Ricky.
Why it matters: The review uses Neill's death to spotlight a 2016 film the critic argues is Waititi's defining work and an under-recognized showcase for Neill's warmth as a lead — giving readers a concrete entry point (the Butch-and-Sundance-plus-Kid odd-couple pitch) into a film the reviewer says "continues to win the hearts of audiences."
