The snobbery of filmmaking is this ludicrous idea that comedy isn’t art or that comedy can’t change the world or that comedy can’t change people—that you basically have to depress an audience in order for it to be meaningful.”  — Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit writer-director-actor

I knew they were on to something when I purchased the last theater seat available for Jojo Rabbit.

Its six Oscar nominations, including best picture, pushed me to see the film a few towns away, smack dab in the best part of the day, a last-minute gig before the Oscar reveal. It for sure wasn’t the movie art that drew me—the silly Hitler character holding rabbit’s ears over a blond uniformed boy.  Jojo Rabbit ranked last on my major nominated films to see before the 2020 Oscars for a reason.

But it’s my favorite movie of 2019 and perhaps of the decade.