The north coast of New South Wales is as much a character as the humans that inhabit its land and seascape in the little gem that is BOSCH & ROCKIT.
Set in the late 1990s, before the era of smartphones and social media, BOSCH & ROCKIT is a rollicking story of being on the lam, told through the eyes of a young teenage boy, Rockit. who initially thinks he’s on a magical holiday with his father, Bosch, only to discover they’re actually running from the law.
Writer director Tyler Atkins has fashioned an iconic coming of age movie against the splendour of the sea and Australia’s eastern coastline. It has a great sense of place, a panoply of personality, all patched into a seamless narrative of lackadaisical parenting, police pursuit, and the solace and sanctuary of surfing.
Bosch gives his all trying to protect his son but Rockit struggles to come to terms with his parents breakup and his declining academic skills. As well as the sea, Rockit also finds an enduring kinship with Ash Ash, a young girl who also has a chequered home life.
Rasmus King a superstar in the making, already stealing scenes in the currently screening, 6 FESTIVALS, is superb as Rockit, an absolute natural with superior surfing skills to match.
Luke Hemsworth as Bosch is totally believable and beguiling as Bosch, a breezy larrikin Lothario blundering through parenthood and the abrupt changes in circumstances fate has decreed.
As his estranged partner and mother of Rockit, Leanna Walsman impresses with her range of mixed emotions from maternal affection to infernal intoxication and resentment.
There’s a surfeit of picturesque montage but the location is so beautiful, the eye is seduced, no resistance is possible. Let the eye have its pleasure.
Redolent of the writing of Tim Winton, epic and earthy with characters who are lovable, funny and full of holes, BOSCH & ROCKIT rocks.