Movie Review: Hoot

Movie Review: Hoot                                                                                                                        4-13-19

Based on the book by Carl Hiassen, Hoot tells the story of a boy named Roy Eberhardt (Logan Lerman), who moved from Montana all the way to Cocoanut Cove, Florida. On his first day of school, Roy notices a barefoot boy running on the sidewalk. He follows the boy into a small forest and learns that it's occupied by burrowing owls. With the help of the boy and his sister Beatrice 'the Bear' Leap (Brie Larson), Roy has to stop a sinister pancake corporation from destroying the owl's homes.

Hoot unfortunately has a poor reputation for being a box-office flop: It only earned 8 million dollars on a 15 million dollar budget and got rather negative reviews. However, I think Hoot has a story that sticks faithfully to the original book, gorgeous cinematography, and an enjoyable score from Phil Marshall, Michael Utley, and Mac MacAnally.

School bully Dana (Eric Phillips) tied to a tree thanks to Beatrice Leap.

Two years ago, I reviewed a movie with a kind of similar plot called Furry Vengeance. I personally HATED IT, and it's my lowest-reviewed movie to date. Here's the link below.

https://asateriale.blogspot.com/2017/04/movie-review-furry-vengeance.html

The main reason Hoot is better than Furry Vengeance is because the environmental message isn't too in-your-face and the characters are more interesting. Mullet Fingers, played by Cody Linley, for example makes me think of Wildernessa from Craig of the Creek if she were given more depth. He is friends with the local burrowing owls and will do whatever it takes to sabotage the construction site for the Mother Paula's Pancake House.

Mullet Fingers about to paint Officer Delinko's (Luke Wilson) car windows black.

The film also showcases some of Florida's most beautiful and exotic animals: As well as burrowing owls, there are also alligators, cottonmouth snakes, anhingas, an ibis, and even a manatee!

In conclusion, despite having a poor score on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, Hoot is a film that is perfect for Earth Day.

Rating: 3.25 stars out of 5.

Speaking of Craig of the Creek, I have an announcement to make about that show on April 25th.