Wil Shriner's Hoot tells the story of three young environmental warriors who band together to save a colony of Burrowing Owls from the bulldozers of development in Florida. Hoot is based upon a young adult novel by Carl Hiassen.
The story revolves around new kid in town Roy as he tries to overcome local bullies and fit in to his new school. Roy befriends classmate Beatrice and her oddball brother Mullet Fingers. The three young adults band together to stop goofball construction foreman Curly (Tim Blake Nelson) from razing a Burrowing Owl colony in favor of a pancake restaurant.
Hoot is a comedy with a serious underlying message of conservation. The kids use some questionable methods to try and save the owl colony (like releasing potentially owl-eating snakes to combat guard dogs) and confrontations between the conservationists and those who would kill the owls range from silly to over-the-top dramatic. Looking over these goofy plot conventions, I enjoyed Hoot for the most part. The owls were cute (of course), the kids were passionate about their cause, and the anti-development message was clear.
The Hoot DVD is full of extras, including short documentaries on costar Jimmy Buffet and the three young stars, backyard habitat and animals in action. The most enjoyable for me was a short piece entitled "Visit an Animal Rescue Center." Bloopers and deleted scenes are also included in the extras. The DVD has one of the cutest menu navigations I've ever seen.
I give Hoot 3.5 Goldfinches out of 5.
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