Give a Hoot, watch something else

"Hoot" is a film about a couple of kids who are trying to stop a big corporation from building a pancake house to save some burrowing owls. Does that sound like something you'd like to spend your Saturday night indulged in? Maybe if you're eight years old.\n"Hoot" is at it's core, a generic kid's film. Based on the novel by Carl Hiaasen, it is a typical story of kids taking on the man to save the environment. Every cliché element is present: Roy, an adolescent from Montana, moves to Florida with his traveling parents. The new kid at school, he gets picked on by the chubby bully, who ironically, has a lisp and is named Dana. He sees a strange kid running by the bus everyday, and decides to check it out. As well as pissing off the bully, he agitates the school's jock blonde, nicknamed "Beatrice the Bear", by running into her while getting off the bus. \nMeanwhile, plans are set in motion to build a pancake emporium called Mother Paula's that will disrupt Florida wildlife. The mystery kid, Beatrice's rebellious brother, is trying to stop the construction by vandalizing the property in anyway possible because a breed of endangered burrowing owls is already occupying the territory. Roy eventually gains Beatrice's respect, and they team up with the kid, known only as "Mullet Fingers," to stop the pancake place from taking out all the owls. \n"Hoot" is a yawn, nothing strikingly funny at all. Luke Wilson plays the clumsy police officer in charge of staking out the vandals at the site. This is the only hope of redemption the movie has but he fails to deliver. \nI was weary about watching a movie produced by Jimmy Buffet, and my expectations were correct. Buffet also includes some of his own songs in the film, and plays the role of Roy's Marine Science teacher. Throw in some pretty shots of Florida's wildlife, and you have a light-hearted film that just doesn't excel in drawing you in at any point.\nBottom line: if you have young kids or just want to get a dirty look by the girl selling tickets (personal experience), then check out "Hoot." I'm tempted to add a lame joke about how this movie isn't funny, and relate it to the title, but I'll spare you ... this time.