“Hoot” (New Line Cinema)
Gives A Hoot About Wildlife
The new film “Hoot” is based on a novel by Carl Hiaasen and has music by Jimmy Buffet. It is a sweet story about three kids who band together to protect some owls who are in danger of being forced out of their habitat in Florida. The message is good; the movie is not.
Teenager Roy Eberhardt (Logan Lerman) moves with his family from Montana to Florida. On his first day of school he spies a kid running barefoot beside his school bus, and he also gets attacked by the school bully. Later he learns the barefoot kid is called “mullet fingers” (Cody Linley) and doesn’t attend school. Mullet’s sister Beatrice (Brie Larson) confides this to Roy.
These three youngsters become friends and decide to take a stand when a local developer wants to bulldoze a property where small owls have their habitat. They take on the man (Tim Blake Nelson) standing guard at the property, the police (Owen Wilson), and the owner (Clark Gregg) of the property.
The movie is to be commended for its environmental stand and for the sweetness of its story. It should be seen by some for those reasons alone. As entertainment, however, the movie is as thrilling as an “Afterschool Special.” It is just humdrum and uneventful.
You can lean back, close your eyes, and enjoy the music of Jimmy Buffett. His songs are all over the soundtrack, plus he plays the role of Roy’s science teacher. Robert Wagner makes an appearance at the end of the film as the local mayor. And then of course there is poor Owen Wilson who plays the dense cop. He gets into his role like it is going to win him an Oscar.
The three kids are bland but nice. I doubt any of them will have much of a future in Hollywood. They don’t grab your attention, but then neither do the name actors. Everyone just seems to be doing someone a favor by being in the film.
The movie is rated PG for comic violence.
This is a movie you can feel safe taking your kids to see. They can’t be harmed or offended by anything in it. Then afterwards you can tell them how important it is to protect nature. You will feel good for doing this and the kids might even have enjoyed the film. The younger the better in the enjoyment thing.
“Hoot” is a movie that will play better on DVD. Then it can be watched in increments and no one will get too bored.
“Hoot” still gets points for sweetness and its message, but for adult audiences it is pretty lame. They will probably leave the theaters asking if it’s five o’clock somewhere.
I scored “Hoot” a natural 5 out of 10.
