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While Beatrice and Roy do admonish Mullet when he wants to drive the land developer's Hummer into a lake, most of his actions go unchecked. He risks his life and others' to save some owls. The filmmakers let his actions stand as warranted and even heroic. He goes unpunished and is unrepentant. In fact, the movie ends with Mullet Fingers apparently still on the run. And it seems he is ready to do more vigilante justice on the behalf of nature. The movie fades to black on Roy and Mullet walking by a sign for a new condo development on the beach. Roy says, "Florida has its way of keeping us busy." Will they use proper channels next time? Will they break more laws? How far will they go?

The kids, willing to do anything to save the land, listen in on more dumb adults

Not having read Hoot, I don't know how faithful the film is. But the movie comes from Walden Media, which has soared with faithful adaptations of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Because of Winn-Dixie, and Holes. Walden co-founder Micheal Flaherty has said the company learned its lesson about unfaithful adaptations when the Around the World in 80 Days, which was turned into a Jackie Chan action flick, flopped and was panned. So, Hoot may be a faithful rendering. (Still, the first TV spots for Walden's upcoming Charlotte's Web includes farting cows—definitely not in E.B. White's beloved original.)

Hoot author Hiaasen, known for very adult books like Strip Tease, did have a hand in making this film. So, it's possible that Hoot's problems—bad behavior without consequences, idiot adults—are true to his story. Hiaasen has said children are smarter than adults and that he, like Mullet, used to mess with construction sites. But really, no matter who's to blame, Hoot is problematic all the same.

In addition to the sloppy writing and ridiculous characters, almost everything else in Hoot is just as weak. The film is grainy, some scenes are so dark you can't see the action, and the acting ranges from average to embarrassing. And I kept thinking about how you never notice those lesser Oscar categories like "sound editing" until they're really bad; at one point, Beatrice is speaking from under a bed, but it sounds like she's doing a voiceover.

The only highlight to the film is a sequence of outstanding nature cinematography in Florida's Everglades. Oh, and there's one funny joke. But that doesn't make this film a hoot at all.

1. Why do you think Mullet Fingers, Roy and Beatrice do everything they do? What would you do if you found these owls, or any animal, threatened in their home like this?
   
   
2. Do you think it is important to protect and help animals and nature? Why? How can you do it?
   
   
3. Read Genesis 1:28 and Matthew 10:29. What do these verses say about how God views animals and nature? How can we take care of God's Earth? What does that mean to you?
   
   
4. Mullet Fingers does some mean stuff and even breaks laws to protect the owls. What do you think of that? Is it okay to do bad if you have good reasons? Read 1 Thessalonians 5:22, Hebrews 5:14, 1 Peter 3:17, 3 John 1:1
5. What do the verses say about when it is okay to do evil things?
   
   
6. How do you think this movie portrays adults? Would you trust the adults and police in this movie? Do you think adults are really like this in real life? Why or why not?

Hoot is rated PG for mild bullying and brief language. Roy has his face pushed into a window and punches the bully in the nose. Other violence (like golf balls hitting people in the head) is played for laughs. More troubling are teens who take the law into their own hands with vandalism and kidnapping. There is one scene where a character has a pretty gruesome dog bite on his arm.

Photos © Copyright New Line Cinema

© Todd Hertz 2006, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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