Hoot: A Family Movie

With the success of movies like Holes, Hollywood has begun churning out many other family movies based on young adult novels. The most recent of these is Hoot; a movie based on the Carl Hiaasen novel of the same name. Unlike the other films, Hoot offers more than just sophomoric humor, and attempts to educate its audience as well as entertain them.

The story follows Roy Eberhardt (Lerman) a boy who has recently moved with his family from Montana to a small Florida community. Naturally Roy initially has trouble fitting in and adjusting to his new home. Shortly after arriving, Roy spots a barefoot runner while riding the bus to school. With his curiosity piqued, Roy follows the strange runner into a forest where he meets and eventually befriends Mullet Fingers (Linley). Mullet is a runaway who spend his time trying to stop a pancake restaurant conglomerate from build their all important 100th restaurant on a plot of land that just happens to be the home to a species of burrowing owls.

Along the way, Roy enlists the help of Beatrice Leep (Larson) a new friend with a somewhat rebellious nature and David Delinko (Wilson) the local police officer whose bumbling ways are reminiscent of Barney Fife than to a usual authority figure. Together, this band of proud misfits fights to save the owls from certain death at the hands of a major corporation. Hi-jinks and entertainment abound as the kids do everything in their power to help the owls.

Though Hoot is a light hearted family film, it does offer some serious undertones. At its core, Hoot, is a film about animal welfare and the importance of the conservation of not just Florida’s but the entire country’s wildlife. The movie also hits upon the themes of friendship and standing up for one’s beliefs in the face of injustice. It is nice to see a movie for children carry an important message instead of being filled with over the top special effects and inane bodily function humor.