Written and Directed by Cameron Nugent
Starring Julian Atocani Sanchez , Jake Busey and Elizabeth De Razzo
Running time 1 hour and 32 minutes
MPAA rating-not rated, but kid friendly

by Deborah Krieger

A Boy Called Sailboat is an astonishingly assured debut narrative film, managing to be heartwarming but not overly cloying, visually striking without seeming like a formal exercise, thoughtful but probably not too complicated for kids to understand. It’s a movie for the whole family, whether you’re a cinephile or a sucker for gentle, kid-friendly storytelling. The premise is simple enough, narrated by and shown entirely through Sailboat’s eyes. Sailboat (Julian Atocani Sanchez), a precocious young boy, and his parents José (Noel Gugliemi) and Meyo (Elizabeth De Razzo) live in a ramshackle, teetering house in a desert town on the United States-Mexico border. The entire area has been in a drought ever since Sailboat was born, with no rain in sight. One day, while playing in a junk heap, Sailboat finds a beautiful ukulele. When his abuela falls sick, she tells Sailboat to write her a song, and so he does, teaching himself to play his “little guitar” until he’s written the greatest song ever.