Starring: Luke Hemsworth, Rasmus King, Isabel Lucas, Leeanna Walsman, Savannah La Rain, Heather Mitchell, Martin Sacks.
Distributor: Madman Films
Runtime: 106 mins. Reviewed in Aug 2022
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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Bosch runs a marijuana plantation but falls foul of corrupt police and goes on the run and into hiding. His son, Rockit, an enthusiastic surfer, lives with him, has no idea about his father’s life but is loyal to him.
There was a time in Australian history – thinking back to the 1950s – when we expected families to be a united group. There were no separations or divorces, a tight bond between parents and children, with children paying loving obedience to their parents. But, we might ask, was it ever so?
These questions are significant for this story of a father and son, Bosch (Hemsworth), and his son Rockit (King). The mother has walked out on them years earlier. Perhaps a more realistic scenario these days.
There are two strands to this story and audience response will depend on which strand they find the more interesting, they relate to better, or become emotionally involved with
Taking the title, there is the Bosch strand. It turns out that he has an extraordinarily large marijuana plantation out in the NSW countryside. He has a team of mates working with him, rough and tumble despite the money that they are making. His son Rockit lives with him but knows nothing of the marijuana, spending a lot of his time surfing (and his father joining him in the surfing). The film becomes something of a drama when corrupt police want to persuade Bosch to market cocaine. His refusal brings Bosch under threat from the police. The plantation is engulfed by a bushfire and Bosch takes the money and runs with Rockit for a ‘holiday’ to Byron Bay. With the police in pursuit, Bosch tries to do the best by his son while staying undercover.
The other story is that of a teenager who has memories of his mother but she has left him, admires his father, loves the surf, doesn’t do well at school because he can’t read well and is bullied. Rockit is delighted when his father takes him to Byron Bay for a holiday, where he meets and befriends a young girl. The son has no idea about what his father really does and is prone to believe Bosch’s story that he is actually a spy and bound to secrecy. For a time, Rockit is with his mother, but she drinks and he clashes with her. Throughout, King portrays Rockit with a strong screen presence.
King does his own surfing in the movie. [He comes from a Byron Bay surfing family, with his older brother a qualified champion. The family move around Australia and to the US to the various venues for surfing competitions.]
Though attractive to look at – filmed in the countryside around Byron Bay and Brunswick Heads – Bosch & Rockit is not a film that stands out and demands to be seen. (The incessant swearing by father and son is wearisome – getting the MA rating.) And, there is a great deal of ambiguity in the character of Bosch and his relationship with his son and his former criminal activities. But, it looks good, and raises, without solving, the issues of parenting and the influence on children.
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