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Film: Hoot [PG] 90 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $9.25
Where Viewed: United Artists Twin Peak Mall 10, Longmont, CO
When 1st Seen: 5 May 2006
Time: 9:40 p.m.
Review Dedicated to: Henry B. of Chicago, IL
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DVD |
With a slate of fairly heavily family-unfriendly films in theatres right now, this early May release of the film Hoot--the new Wil Shriner film based on the award-winning children’s book by Carl Hiaasen and produced by Denver billionaire Phillip Anschutz's entertainment holdings Walden Media which also created Holes, The Chronicles of Narnia, and the upcoming Charlotte's Web—seems like an outstanding idea. I, for one, really enjoyed Holes, and I thought The Chronicles of Narnia was one of the top films of last year. Unfortunately, Hoot is not a production of the scale of the Chronicles of Narnia. With a seen-it-all-before, “kids save the owls” storyline and a script that turned out a little dry, predictable, and derivative, this film is more well suited to a weekend kids tv movie time slot than a major theatrical release.
The incredibly likeable cast of kids included Logan (“Jack and Bobby”) Lerman as the displaced Montanan Roy Eberhardt, Brie Larson as local girls soccer team legend Beatrice; and Cody Linley as the barefoot conservationist hero “Mullet Fingers”. In fact, their infectious enthusiasm was the highlight of the film. The essence of the story has “Mullet Fingers”, step brother of Beatrice, fleeing military school in Alabama to live “on his own” in an abandoned house boat near his former hometown of Coconut Cove, Florida and working to defend a plot of land inhabited by a protected species of burrowing owls from being developed and turned into a Mother Paul’s Pancake House. Along the way, Roy becomes involved after seeing the speedy, barefoot kid running loose along his schoolbus route and developing a curious philanthropic interest in trying to locate and help “Mullet Fingers”. Eventually, all three (Roy, "Mullet Fingers" and Beatrice) work to save the owls by participating in relatively tame pranks designed to halt construction. The film just isn’t as good as it could have been because way too much time was devoted to the grown ups in the film: the poor job foreman who is the victim of the hijinx, the land developer and his wife whom he has portray Mrs. Paul for the tv commercials sort of against her will or, at least, better judgment; and, especially Officer David Delinko (Luke Wilson) of the Coconut Cove Police Department assigned to ferret out the identity of the vandals of the property and his other escapades. This was a definite downfall in the way the story was put together--kids want to see the kids in a kids movie. Other than the kid-cast, one of the other highlights of the film were the songs written by Jimmy Buffet and his guest appearance in the film as Roy’s science teacher Mr. Ryan. Two of the songs, “Barefootin’” and “Good Guys Win” were notably great with latter having the potential for an Academy Award® for Best Song nomination, if the Academy still remembers this film when nomination-time comes around.
For the most part, Hoot is good, relatively safe, family entertainment. There is nothing really ground breaking, and some of the vandalism-based hijinx the kids use to protect the owls do not send the best message. The story lacks the degree of humor that kids tend to enjoy in films of this niche and focuses too much on ancillary characters. Take the kids to see Akeelah and the Bee first.
The incredibly likeable cast of kids included Logan (“Jack and Bobby”) Lerman as the displaced Montanan Roy Eberhardt, Brie Larson as local girls soccer team legend Beatrice; and Cody Linley as the barefoot conservationist hero “Mullet Fingers”. In fact, their infectious enthusiasm was the highlight of the film. The essence of the story has “Mullet Fingers”, step brother of Beatrice, fleeing military school in Alabama to live “on his own” in an abandoned house boat near his former hometown of Coconut Cove, Florida and working to defend a plot of land inhabited by a protected species of burrowing owls from being developed and turned into a Mother Paul’s Pancake House. Along the way, Roy becomes involved after seeing the speedy, barefoot kid running loose along his schoolbus route and developing a curious philanthropic interest in trying to locate and help “Mullet Fingers”. Eventually, all three (Roy, "Mullet Fingers" and Beatrice) work to save the owls by participating in relatively tame pranks designed to halt construction. The film just isn’t as good as it could have been because way too much time was devoted to the grown ups in the film: the poor job foreman who is the victim of the hijinx, the land developer and his wife whom he has portray Mrs. Paul for the tv commercials sort of against her will or, at least, better judgment; and, especially Officer David Delinko (Luke Wilson) of the Coconut Cove Police Department assigned to ferret out the identity of the vandals of the property and his other escapades. This was a definite downfall in the way the story was put together--kids want to see the kids in a kids movie. Other than the kid-cast, one of the other highlights of the film were the songs written by Jimmy Buffet and his guest appearance in the film as Roy’s science teacher Mr. Ryan. Two of the songs, “Barefootin’” and “Good Guys Win” were notably great with latter having the potential for an Academy Award® for Best Song nomination, if the Academy still remembers this film when nomination-time comes around.
For the most part, Hoot is good, relatively safe, family entertainment. There is nothing really ground breaking, and some of the vandalism-based hijinx the kids use to protect the owls do not send the best message. The story lacks the degree of humor that kids tend to enjoy in films of this niche and focuses too much on ancillary characters. Take the kids to see Akeelah and the Bee first.
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Hoot [DVD](2006) DVD
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1 comment:
man, your blog rocks! i too, like to watch movie everyday; either in the theater or in dvd. but unlike you who watch everything, i choose my movies selection. i dont watch horror, not because i dont like it, but just because i got scared easily. and i dont post everyday, cause i can watch 5 or 6 movies per day so it can be a hassle. anyway, about this movie; i'll check it out in the future. cheers!
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