“Hoot”, based on the novel by Carl Hiaasen, is about Roy, a young teen who has just moved from Montana to Florida. Being the new kid, he’s immediately subjected to bullying by his school’s resident bully Dana Matherson. While he’s being picked on his first morning on the school bus, he sees a kid around his age running nearly as fast as the school bus. He’s intrigued, and looks around school for the kid, but doesn’t seem him anywhere.
Roy is saved from the bully by Beatrice, who’s even bigger than Dana (in height anyway) and although she’s reluctant, she and Roy become friends. When Roy asks her about the boy he saw running, she becomes defensive, but eventually tells Roy the boy is her brother, Mullet. Mullet has run away from military school and is hiding out in an old, dry-docked boat.
Beatrice and Mullet eventually tell Roy a secret they’ve been hiding. They’ve been looking after owls on a site that’s prime for demolition by a restaurant developer. The owls are on the endangered list. Roy knows they must do something to stop the restaurant from being built, but they’re unsure what to do. Eventually Roy comes up with a plan and the three set out to save the owls.
“Hoot” is a really cute movie for kids to watch with a great message. Not only does it show kids that they can accomplish anything, it also has a good message about protecting our environment. The movie is rated PG for some scenes of bullying and mild language, but it’s nothing too horrible. I was even surprised when Roy stands up for himself in one scene, and punches Dana, his parents make him write a letter of apology. Usually parents in movies are encouraging their kids to stand up and fight back, but Roy’s parents make it clear that you can’t deal with bullying in that way.
“Hoot” was produced by singer Jimmy Buffet, who not only provided new songs for the movie, but stars in it as Roy’s science teacher. It also stars Logan Lerman, Brie Larson, Luke Wilson and Cody Linley.
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