X
- 2020
- PG
- Amazon Studios
- 1 h 34 m
- 2020
- PG
- Amazon Studios
- 1 h 34 m
Summary In a tiny Georgia town in 1977, a motherless girl dreams of life beyond the confines of her trailer-park home. When her quest for connection leads her to reach for the stars in a competition to be included on NASA's landmark Golden Record, it becomes clear she will have to depend on some new friends to take her the last mile.
Written By: Lucy Alibar
- 2020
- PG
- Amazon Studios
- 1 h 34 m
- 2020
- PG
- Amazon Studios
- 1 h 34 m
Troop Zero
58
5.8
Where to Watch
Summary In a tiny Georgia town in 1977, a motherless girl dreams of life beyond the confines of her trailer-park home. When her quest for connection leads her to reach for the stars in a competition to be included on NASA's landmark Golden Record, it becomes clear she will have to depend on some new friends to take her the last mile.
Written By: Lucy Alibar
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 12 Critic Reviews
58
50% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
50% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 12 Critic Reviews
58
50% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
50% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Characters this lovely only come once in a blue moon.
Gaffigan is able to do a lot with a little, and the comedian is a perfect fit for Ramsey’s gentle cluelessness. He’s effortlessly charismatic in this kind of role, and the arc of his relationship with Christmas is lovely for all the ways it doesn’t fall into easy, empty melodrama.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 19 User Ratings
5.8
53% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
26% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
21% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 19 User Ratings
5.8
53% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
26% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
21% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
This is a film with a nice message, about it not mattering if you fit in or not, something that hits home to me. The characters are fun and its a relatively entertaining film, although there are bullying aspects present in the plot. I thought the cast did a good job and it was a fun, amusing and poignant watch. I can't say I'd heard of 'Hell-No' as a girls first name before, nor 'Christmas' but, there you go - the characters are shown with their quirks and all, such as one character who has an eye patch. It has a nice wholesome pro inclusivity aspect to it and so I'd recommend to others.
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In Troop Zero, based on the play Christmas and Jubilee Behold The Meteor Shower, during the 1970s' young astronomy-nut Christmas Flint (McKenna Grace who played the Warrens' daughter in Annabelle Comes Home) decides to form her own Birdie Scouts troop in order to enter a talent show and win the opportunity to have her voice recorded and shot into space.
This is a very predictable misfits-stand-up-to-society-type, but it does it well. You get some really good dialogue, plus you get a cast of eccentric characters.
Grace does an excellent job as the quirky Christmas. We're also treated to a trio of fine adult actors: Jim Gaffigan as Christmas' father, Viola Davis as her scout leader, and Allison Janney as a rival scout leader. The last two are particularly good with both actresses delivering some deliciously cutting remarks in this.
Overall, I feel this is a fun little time waster.
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Troop Zero is bursting with personality and stylistic flourishes; it might be too twee for some, but it’s better to let yourself be won over by its sincerity and sweetness, tempered by just enough sadness and quirk.
Neither reinvents the wheel nor even attempts to redesign it all that much, but at least it gets where it wants to go, thanks in no small part to the work of Allison Janney, Viola Davis, and young actor Mckenna Grace.
Davis isn't given a very satisfying backstory to work with, but when has she needed one? The actress strikes a satisfying balance between reluctance and protectiveness. Gaffigan and Janney offer just what their parts in the story need, but Davis keeps it all on the rails.
Viewed as any sort of follow-up to "Beasts," Troop Zero looks like a sellout. By the standards of mainstream live-action children’s fare, however, it’s more mature and thoughtful than average. Just don’t expect any Oscar nominations, even for recent winners like Davis and Janney.
It is an innocuous, pleasant enough way to kill a few hours. That’s the worst thing you can say about it. It’s also, alas, the best thing you can say about it as well.
I wanted to see this when it screened at SIFF 2019, but missed it. Glad to have it pop up now. Troop Zero is a sweet family flick, led by McKenna Grace – a strong young actress making a splash recently in Annabelle Comes Home and The Haunting of Hill House. She plays one **** of misfit children starting their own Not-Girl-Scout troop in rural Georgia in 1977. They face off against snobbish girls led by Allison Janney and of course learn about themselves and gain self-confidence along the way. Troop Beverly Hills vs Ernest Goes to Camp? It’s a bit twee at times, but has a lot of heart and sweetness throughout.
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The trailer makes this look like another attempt at putting together a quirky group of misfits into a winning team. And it is. Sadly, it lacks enough "quirk" to make it more than a sweet message flick for young viewers. The protagonist is a young girl who's lost her mother and wants to connect with her via the stars. She's eventually driven to form a troop of Birdie Scouts, so they can put their voice on the Voyager's golden satellite disk. They assemble an appropriately eccentric group and enlist a very dour Viola Davis as the leader. The primary villain (Allison Janney) is the school principal with her own competitive group of girls. Seeing these 2 accomplished women work was my primary impetus for watching. Despite their best attempts, the writing isn't very special and sometimes pushes credibility. While it's trying really hard to create the kind of idiosyncratic film that inspires and entertains, this Troop only works for those without high expectations.
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The enthusiasm doesn't justify the journey. By itself the film doesn't demand anything from the public but at the same time doesn't deliver anything that deserves to be highlighted it and yes the comparisons with Little Miss Sunshine are evident but here you won't find the heart of that story and although as I said this movie focuses on sweetening and pleasing the audience that's problematic because it feels false, even if you are looking for that.
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These filmmakers attempt to target 5-8 year-olds with kiddie humor and adults with profanity and other adult subject matter. The 'southern charm' comes off as manufactured and is brimming with negative stereotypes. The sentimentality is very forced. The acting and cinematography are strong, but that's about it.
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The final act is the worst thing I've seen in the cinema. Along with that, it has some of the worst characters to like or care about. None of them have personality, none of them are likeable, and it also inaccurately displays what the actual Deep South was like in the 1970s. The acting is also pretty embarrassing to watch as it clearly felt like the actors were only doing this film for the money. The story for this film is also poorly developed and most of the side plots don't make sense. This film heavily fails however on its final act which is a dull, dumb, and piss joke filled nightmare that only makes you hate these characters. Overall, Troop Zero is a poor film with a god awful third act, bad acting, and dull plot. I do not recommend
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Production Company
Amazon Studios,
Big Indie Pictures,
Escape Artists,
JuVee Productions
Release Date Jan 17, 2020
Duration 1 h 34 m
Rating PG
Tagline Show the Universe Who You Truly Are
Awards
Palm Springs International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Black Reel Awards for Television
• 1 Nomination
Casting Society of America, USA
• 1 Nomination
