Eagle vs Shark

"Some light laughs ensue and loner protagonists possess an offbeat appeal, but the 30ish characters, Kiwi accents and profoundly twee nature place a large question mark over its commercial prospects with the “Napoleon” demographic..."

"Presumably, these characters are meant to be appealing in their ordinariness, but just seem inane. The Farrelly Brothers can get away with it because their writing is smart, even if their characters aren't. For Waititi, who developed the screenplay at the Sundance Lab, wisdom consists of lines like, "life is full of hard bits but in between there are lovely bits"..."

"Eagle versus Shark will either hit the bulls eye for some, or miss the dartboard completely for others..."

"It’s just not that funny... If watching adults behaving like stunted emotional fcukwits, while spotting bits of Wellington, for an hour and a half is your idea of fun, you should go..."

"Although the film is undermined far more as a Michel Gondry cribbage than a Napolean Dynamite proxy, it at once underlines itself culturally with a soft-spoken modesty, and belies its own shyness as a confident, assured piece of moviemaking... anyone seeking an antidote to the buffoonery (and indeed, Auckland-ness) of Sione’s Wedding, its appeal will be immense..."

"Sweet-natured, modest in its intentions, and almost defiantly whimsical..."

"It's a gem of geek love in Aotearoa with some virtuoso performances of awkwardness from its two leads, Loren Horsley and Jemaine Clement. This could well be New Zealand's first arthouse rom-com..."