Saturday, January 6, 2018

The Florida Project (2017)

Director: Sean Baker. Cast: Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Willem Dafoe. 111 min. Rated R. Drama.

Honest truth: just a few minutes in, I was thinking this is a combination of Tangerine's storytelling, and Wes Anderson's visual style. And of course! It's made by Tangerine's director. Can't pinpoint a specific story-line here; other than it displays random vignettes in the lives of a few cute, smart, foul-mouthed preschoolers in a Florida motel/project, how their parents survive, and how their heart-of-gold manager (Dafoe) fends for them. You will laugh, you will mesmerize, and you will cry - but by God, you'll never be bored, and think twice the next time you pass by one of these projects.

Mo says:

2 comments:

  1. I just finished watching this on Amazon Prime and it was a fantastic experience that totally ran me through a gammut of emotions and although it ended on a sad note, who knows, maybe the little girls dreams came true at Disneyland...

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    1. I thought that ending was especially appropriate for the movie. Such a tough life for these kids only becomes easier in a dreamlike place like Disney World. Which is then that you realize: so that’s why set the movie in Orlando in the first place.

      Next to The Last Temptation of Christ, this is another movie Willem Dafoe will be remembered for.

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