Hoot

From the ecological perspective, this family flick based on a YA novel by Carl Hiaasen (and produced by singer Jimmy Buffett, who also plays a small role and contributes some innocuous songs) has its heart in the right place. The central figure is Roy, a middle-school kid from Montana just arrived in Florida, who immediately falls afoul of the campus bully, but after this rocky start bonds with Beatrice, a soccer star, and her free-spirited brother nicknamed Mullet Fingers, who's engaged in a campaign to stop the construction of a franchise restaurant on a site inhabited by a flock of burrowing owls (a protected species). In order to halt the project, the trio must contend with an inept foreman (Tim Blake Nelson), the chain's evil head honcho, and a bumbling cop (Luke Wilson). The basic problem with screenwriter-director Will Shriner's adaptation is that even for a kid flick, the dumbness quotient is way too high (all of the adults are either mean-spirited or dolts, or both), and the tactics employed by the kids are questionable (rather than, for example, contacting activist groups, they engage in what's essentially vigilante sabotage). Although Hoot displays an almost desperate desire to educate children about environmental sensitivity, it does so in a heavy-handed and arguably irresponsible fashion. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Wil Shriner and novelist Carl Hiaasen, the 10-minute featurette “Meet the Kids in the Cast,” a “Visit an Animal Rescue Center” featurette (9 min.), the nine-minute featurette “Jimmy Buffett: Filmmaker in Paradise,” a seven-minute “Backyard Habitat” segment that teaches viewers how to make their own backyard animal sanctuary, the seven-minute “Animals in Action” featurette, the six-minute featurette “Meet the Creator of Hoot” on Hiaasen, six deleted scenes with optional commentary (5 min.), “Hoot's Hands On Habitat Projects” (5 min.), a “Director on the Set” segment (4 min.), three minutes of bloopers, and trailers. Bottom line: an excellent extras package for a disappointing family film.] (F. Swietek)