Hoot

(Synopsis) Roy Eberhardt (Logan Lerman) is a teenager who loves living in the wide open spaces and mountains of Montana. Unfortunately for him, his father's job is forcing him to move once again, this time to a small town in Florida. As the new kid in school, Roy has the usual encounter with the school bully on the bus. While riding on the bus, Roy is also intrigued by a teenage boy who was running like the wind and passed the bus in his bare feet. The next day, Roy gets off the bus and tries to catch him, but loses him at the golf course. Roy eventually meets the boy, known as Mullet Fingers (Cody Linley). Mullet Fingers is a runaway living on an abandoned boat near the golf course and a vacant lot that is about to have a pancake house built on it. All by himself, Mullet Fingers has taken up the cause of protecting the burrow owls that are nesting on the vacant lot. If a pancake house is built on the lot, it will destroy the habitat of the burrow owls. Roy joins forces with Mullet Fingers and his sister Beatrice (Brie Larson) to save the owls.

(My Comment) This is one movie the whole family can see. The story is entertaining and heart-warming for all ages. You will love the music of Jimmy Buffett that was played throughout the movie. Jimmy Buffett produced and played a small part as the marine science teacher. This is a pro-environmental film that shows what can be accomplished by three teenagers using the act of civil disobedience. The film has lots of humor, and a message of saving the environment and some beautiful cinematography of Montana and Florida. And of course, don't forget the owls. (New Line Cinema, Run time 1:30, Rated PG)(6/10)

My family (two 40-somethings, an 8 year old and my 71 yr old mother) saw this at a sneak preview on April 29th. We all enjoyed the movie very much. The story was a good one, and knowing it was based on real-life events made it that much more enjoyable. Luke Wilson was a hoot (pun intended) to watch as was Tim Blake Nelson. And seeing Neil Flynn play something other than "the mean janitor from Scrubs" was nice. The kids in movie did well and I'm sure they will all appeal to a certain demographic on the heartthrob level. The visuals were just lovely and the Jimmy Buffet music added to the "Florida feel". OK, maybe the story was a little too neat and well packaged for some adults, but hey, who cares? I can't compare it to the book, I honestly hadn't heard of it until the movie came out.

It was just a NICE movie and it had a good message. Plain and simple.

True, the plot is hectic and some elements could have been avoided (e.g. the bullying kid related ones), but elaborated characters and good performances (leading with Logan Lerman as Roy E. Eberhardt, Luke Wilson as Officer David Delinko, Tim Blake Nelson as "Curly" Brannit, Clark Gregg as Chuck Muckle, above all) make this movie rather catchy to follow - and more attention and praise. The protection of nature, particularly endangered species is so important that respective schooling should be started as early as possible. On the other hand, running away from a policeman and binding up a person could induce ambivalent feelings...

I can easily recommend the movie to families with schoolchildren, especially those living in urban areas. For those who find Hoot dull and plain: there are several different environmentally focused movies, On Deadly Ground with Steven Seagal, for example :)

PS Logan Lerman has really become a magnificent young actor, The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) is an evident demonstration of this!

I took a group of young people who were the same age as the protagonists and it appealed to us all. I agree with the other post, the Wilson guy worked a thankless script into a great minor character. It is good to have a movie for a certain age demographic (too old for PG, too young for R). It also shows how they think and maneuver in junior high school. You had to love how well Jimmy Buffet did as the cool teacher. He kept us adults awake. The level of kids questioning authority was kept reasonable. Their motives were specific and not like some A.D.D. rebel. The setting and music were beautiful. Overall, if you enjoyed Holes, this is really similar.

In 'Hoot' Logan Lerman plays Roy Eberhardt, the new kid in school who has just moved from Montana. But Florida is a lot different from Montana. Despite is troubles in blending in, Roy discovers a bigger problem. A new franchise restaurant is coming to town and families of burrowing owls are in trouble. Can the new kid, a tomboy (Brie Larson) and a runaway (Cody Linley) stop big business from destroying these owls' home?

This movie was pretty good. The kids (Logan Lerman, Brie Larson and Cody Linley) are the real stars of this film. Luke Wilson (Officer Delinko) is okay, but really does not have a very big part. Neither does Robert Wagner (Mayor) or Jimmy Buffett (Mr. Ryan).

Nevertheless this was a fun film that the whole family will enjoy. For a first time producer, I thought Jimmy Buffett put together a quality piece of work. Plus the owls were really cute.