Movie Review: Finding ‘Ohana (PG - 123 minutes)

 

Enjoying the year of Netflix weekly new releases, I found Finding ‘Ohana. 

If you do not remember from Lilo and Stitch, ‘Ohana means family.  In this fun family adventure flick, Pili and her older brother Ioane are siblings raised in Brooklyn.  Pili spends most of her time in geocaching competitions, something she really loves. She has just won a competition and is about to have the best summer of her life at a geocaching camp (which I did not know was a thing) when her mother, Leilani, learns that her grandfather Kimo has had a heart attack.  Leilani takes the family to Oahu for the summer where they get to connect with their Hawaiian heritage even if they were not planning to.

Pili finds a journal in her grandfather’s things that may or may not lead to buried treasure.  She connects with a neighbor kid, Casper, and together they head out to find the treasure.  Ioane and his new crush Hana go after them, and together, the four explore, bond, and search throughout some gorgeous landscapes and sets. Meanwhile, Leilani reconnects with Kimo and everyone gains a greater appreciation for their family.

This is the directorial debut of Jude Weng and the movie looks amazing. Now, filming in Oahu may be cheating, because there is not really a bad shot available, but besides the outdoor scenes, the bits inside caves and homes are also well put-together. The movie is predictable – you know Pili is going to learn to appreciate her family by the end – but that is never an issue with a family film.  The kids do a fine job through an adventure that feels very Goonies (on purpose), so much so that Ke Huy Quan cameos.

All four of the lead kid actors are perfectly find for kid actors – this is the debut of Kea Peahu as Pili and she goes from irritating to lead adventurer. Alex Aiono is apparently a huge singing sensation on the YouTube, and both Owen Vaccaro as Casper and Lindsay Watson as Hana help the siblings appreciate Hawaii. 

Kelly Hu is always fantastic and brings a grounding realism to Leilani as she struggles to get her father to understand how close he is to losing his home.

Seeing Branscombe Richmond as Kimo was a treat for me – I used to love the TV show Renegade. He pays the stereotypical grandfather here but fits the role perfectly as he eventually realizes his contribution to his strained relationship with his daughter.

Overall, the movie is plenty of fun and certainly a great option for a family Netflix evening.  I particularly enjoyed the intercut re-enactments of the pirates who found and hid the treasure as Pili reads the journal with some pure silliness by Chris Parnell and Marc Evan Jackson. Also – cast fun over the closing credits will always leave a smile on my face!

6 out of 10 – perfectly pleasant.

Also – the fact that this movie includes a trip to the ‘film tour’ area of Oahu where you can see where they filmed Lost and Jurassic Park has now moved a trip to that park to my bucket list. They make fun of it in the movie, but hey – I would enjoy that!