Jojo Rabbit’s casting is spot-on and treats anti-Semitism with the scorn it deserves

TAIKA Waititi's low-budget satirical war comedy manages to balance punchy bad taste with genuinely heartfelt comedy . . .  just about.

It won’t surprise you to know his depiction of the Fuhrer as a zany, wise-cracking child’s pal has not exactly pleased audiences in Germany. But to their credit, they’ve gone all in.

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So we are in the last days of World War Two in Nazi Germany, where young Johannes “Jojo” Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis) lives with his mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson playing another blinder).

While kicking about the family house, he discovers his mother has been harbouring a young Jewish girl in their attic. Oh, and he has Adolf Hitler as an immature and unhinged imaginary friend, hell bent on convincing him of the Jews’ awfulness.

The casting is spot on, finding a true star in Archie Yates who plays Jojo’s buddy Yorki, while also featuring more familiar faces like Alfie Allen, Sam Rockwell and Stephen Merchant.

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If anything, the film is too schmaltzy at times, with an ending that felt more John Hughes than it needed to.

The anti-Semitism is treated with the scorn it deserves and its maker’s wit runs through it pleasingly.

I’m just not sure it taught me anything to lift it above being only very good.

Jojo Rabbit (12A) 113mins

★★★★☆