A
faithful, modestly likeable version of Carl Hiassen’s teen novel about a
Florida kid who stumbles his way into some activism of behalf of endangered
owls.
“Tween” novels don’t get made
into movies that often (Holes is one that comes to mind), so this
faithful adaptation of Carl Hiassen’s 2002 tale is welcome. Roy Eberhardt, the
hero of the tale, is the new kid in the town of Coconut Cove, Florida. In short
order he’s become the target of the school bully, pissed off a girl called
Beatrice the Bear, and gotten hit on the head by a golf ball after chasing a
barefoot kid. In another subplot, a local cop (Luke Wilson) is trying to figure
out the source of some petty vandalism at a construction site. Turns out it all
has to do with a pancake house and some owls competing for the same slice of
real estate. The Florida in this movie isn’t the one of Disney World or CSI:
Miami, but the quainter version found in Hiassen’s novels and the songs of
Jimmy Buffet. Not surprisingly, Buffet, one of the film’s producers, provides
much of the soundtrack and plays a science teacher. I wouldn’t have minded a
little more of the whimsy of Hiassen’s adult novels; unlike those, Hoot
gets less quirky as things progress, settling eventually into a straight
pro-environment, teen-empowerment mode. Adults may find the corporate villain
one-dimensional as well. Almost all of it is straight out of the book. Perhaps
dismayed by the reception afforded the only other film made from one of his
novels (Striptease), Hiassen wrote the script himself. There are more
original films, but by virtue of likable characters and having no competition
at all, Hoot is the junior-high semi-comedy of 2006 (so far).
posted 8/20/13
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