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Hoot

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 26 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 17 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Family/Kids
Written by:
Wil Shriner
Carl Hiaasen (novel)
Directed by: Wil Shriner
Release Date:
Theatrical: May 5, 2006
DVD: August 15, 2006
Running Time: 90 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG for mild bullying and brief language
Starring Logan Lerman, Luke Wilson, Brie Larson, Cody Linley, Eric Phillips, Dean Collins, Tim Blake Nelson, Clark Gregg, Kiersten Warren, Neil Flynn, Jessica Cauffiel, and Robert Wagner
Three middle-schoolers take on greedy land developers, corrupt politicians, and clueless cops in the mystery adventure Hoot based on Carl Hiaasen's Newbery Honor-winning book. (New Line Cinema)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Boston Globe Ty Burr
The movie balances cardboard comic bad-guys with believable teenagers, has the courage to avoid romance, and unlike most Hollywood films suggests parents can be helpful and loving as well as clueless.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein
Fun to watch although falling short of a real hoot, this latest in a barrage of family movies largely succeeds at keeping the kiddies entertained and their parents from nodding off.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
Based on the charming young-adult novel by Florida bard Carl Hiaasen, Hoot is a pleasant diversion on the order of a gloriously photographed after-school special.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
There is nothing objectionable in this family film, but it doesn't seem to appreciate the intelligence and savvy of its youthful audience. Kids can spot a silly stereotypical character as fast as the rest of us.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Scott Foundas
Hoot is flatly directed by talk-show-host-turned-sitcom-director Wil Shriner, but the young actors are spirited and appealing, and the movie's low-key anti-establishment posture is vastly preferable to the knee-jerk fulminations of a Michael Moore.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
Shriner's direction has an Afterschool Special blandness, but those mechanical owls are quite realistic. While the film was in production Hiaasen said that he had "nightmare visions of the gopher in 'Caddyshack.' " He needn't have worried.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
The kids have good chemistry, there's some fun oddball humor stuck in around the slapstick, and the gorgeous photography of the Gulf Coast beaches, waterways and wildlife brings their mission to life.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Hoot may be warm and fuzzy with its adorable owls, triumphant kids and inviting Florida groves. But its forced, innocuous humor is unlikely to amuse anyone but the very young -- and the extremely forgiving.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Lawrence Van Gelder
This sweet-natured but plodding adaptation of a young-adult novel by Carl Hiaasen could have used a little less broad satire of corporate greed and a few more, well, owls.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Jan Stuart
Any charm and character ascribed to Carl Hiaasen's bestselling book have been homogenized in Wil Shriner's flat screenplay and direction.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
The child actors are bland, the adult characters are forced to act like dunderheads to keep the paper-thin plot going, and the generic-sounding Jimmy Buffett songs are just a LITTLE out of sync with the film's target age group.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson
The kids Hoot is aimed at weren't around to see all the previous films it echoes, particularly the toothless Disney live-action films of the '70s. They'll probably like Hoot fine. Everyone else in the audience is likely to nod off and have genial, bland, easygoing dreams.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson
Your individual tolerance for Jimmy Buffett music will determine how well all the scenes set to his music go down.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
The songs take some of the sting out of the numerous scenes involving alligators, snakes, attack dogs and bullies. Yet in their lazy way, they're one more reminder that kids are better off with a book than a middling movie adaptation of a book.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Peter Debruge
A filmmaker like John Sayles ("Sunshine State") who shares Hiaasen's issue-conscious outlook might have framed the lesson a bit more eloquently. But Shriner blows it.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
What's subversive about the movie is that it comes off as squeaky-clean, when in fact it's irresponsible. Worse, it's not that interesting.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
The goal is apparently a double exercise in heartfelt lessons and deep hilarity, but it's hard to tell because the pace feels so lethargic. Director and screenwriter Wil Shriner is a TV-sitcom veteran (Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond) whose idea of directing a movie is to make another sitcom, only four times as long.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
As it is, Hoot doesn't accomplish anything a picture book of the Everglades and a few well-chosen Jimmy Buffett tunes wouldn't do better.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Toddy Burton
Earnest, playful and eco-friendly, Hoot is a worthwhile visit for the tween set, but parents may role their eyes more than once at this flightless film.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
Writer-director Wil Shriner tends to sit on almost every shot, killing any comic momentum (sequences with Luke Wilson as a dim-bulb cop are particularly witless), and ominous scenes involving cottonmouths and Rottweilers are glibly resolved.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
Hoot peaks during its wordless opening credits sequence, which swoops delightfully around Florida scenery. That, the cute owls and the easygoing songs by Jimmy Buffett, who also plays one of Roy's teachers, are the only things worth your trouble.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Hoot has its heart in the right place, but I have been unable to locate its brain.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Don't let the Carl Hiaasen pedigree fool you: Hoot is an Afterschool Special too crummy to give a hoot about.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
It's meant to be funny, but I couldn't help thinking they were figuring out where to plant the pipe bombs.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 17 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Ling H. gave it a9:
I loved the movie in the first place but when MY name came up as a janitor, that was my next favorite movie. my lifetime achievement will be a janitor. rock on other ling ho!
Ashleye E. gave it a10:
Read the book, it is great.
Rich R. gave it an8:
Come on people, this is a cute movie. It has all kinds of hilarious jokes embedded in it, and shows off a beautiful, vanishing Florida. I mean, I grew up in LA, so I don't know Florida for beans, but I loved what I saw in this show. What's more, the kids are nice to each other, pretty much. Worth seeing on many levels, yes.
RBrooksC gave it a3:
Any film that show ecoterrorists and no punishment for their ecoterrorism is a failure. It is one thing to teach children responsibility and love for, and care of the enviroment. It is another thing to teach them illegal activities to get what they want.
Jessica A. gave it a10:
I highly recommend Hoot if you are looking for a good film with a strong message of environmentalism and responsibility for your kids. I took my family to a screening and we had a ball. We had all read the book ( several times) and found the film to be a faithful representation of the book. We loved it!
Jay M gave it a7:
For a kid's movie, this was terrific. My 6 1/2 and 9 year olds loved it, got caught up in the adventure, and now want to be environmentalists. The message about standing up for what you believe in is well done -- even if the villians are too simplistic.
Peter H. gave it a9:
HOOT was a fun film. Neat story. Good music. Worth spending the ticket price and a couple of hours.
