'Hoot': Not much to holler about
Palm Beach Post
There is a difference between a family film and mere kid's stuff and, unfortunately, Carl Hiaasen and Jimmy Buffett's Hoot falls into the latter category.
New Line Cinema
C The verdict: A well-meaning, environmentally conscious Hiaasen yarn, aimed at youngsters. Director: Wil Shriner On the web |
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Based on Hiaasen's Newberry Award-winning novel about a trio of Florida teens trying to make their community more environmentally conscious and help save the endangered burrowing owl, the movie has plenty of positive messages but feels like a good-intentions television Afternoon Special.
Roy Eberhardt (Logan Lerman) resents being uprooted by his family and moving from Montana to a sleepy, little Florida town. Bullied on his first day at his new school, he feels like an outcast until he finds a cause helping a mysterious barefoot boy and his sister in their efforts to block the construction of an evil pancake house (Yikes!) that jeopardizes cute little owls.
The young actors are capable but bland, while Luke Wilson adds much-needed humor as a slow-witted local cop whom they easily outsmart.
Producer Buffett doubles as a kindly, if wooden, science teacher and also contributes a few gentle songs to the soundtrack. Wil Shriner directs, capturing some attractive footage of Sunshine State terrain, but never justifying the movie's existence on the big screen.
Hoot is harmless enough and may actually instill in youngsters a concern for the ecology. Still, there is virtually no second level to attract adults or keep their minds from wandering.
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