The Florida Project

_The Florida Project_ is a beautiful film about people and life and survival. Sean Baker has shown us the underbelly of American culture that we normally don't get to see; these people aren't known and are the outcasts of society. Much like Andrea Arnold's masterpiece from last year, _American Honey_, this film brings to light many issues that are insanely topical in the current American political climate such as classism and racism. Gorgeously shot on 35mm, this film is a feast for the eyes. It uses every colour in the crayon box from the gloriously purple exterior to the dilapidated Magic Kingdom motel to the impossibly bright oranges, reds, and greens of the local shops where the kids venture every day. While plasticky and candy-like during the day scenes, the film is even more stunning at sundown - the dusty, sun-drenched shots here are sublime. Everyone has been abuzz about Willem Dafoe's performance in this. He's absolutely charming and is the glue that holds these dejected people's lives together in this film. He's the father figure to all of them and he does the absolute most with his character. The breakthrough star of this film, however, is 7-year-old Brooklynn Prince. She's an absolute superstar. During the Q&A at the North American premiere she wore a baby blue princess gown and simultaneously waved like Queen Elizabeth II and blew kisses at the audience as they gave her a standing ovation. Child performers lately have been better and better - remember how good Jacob Tremblay was in _Room_? Just you wait for Prince to wow you in this. She has a scene at the very end of the movie that requires her to break down and cry and it tore my heart out.

I think Wayne put it best when he said: _"Don't, uh... Don't care much for kids, so..."_ _Final rating:★★½ - Not quite for me, but I definitely get the appeal._

Motel manager “Bobby” (Willem Dafoe) tends to turn a bit of a blind eye to a few of his longer-term residents so long as they toe the line and don’t disturb the equilibrium of things at their residence a stone’s throw from the Walt Disney estate in Orlando. One such beneficiary of this benign attitude is “Halley” (Bria Vinaite) who lives, largely on welfare and her wits, with her feisty young daughter “Moonee” (Brooklynn Prince). They are regularly a pain in his neck, but he knows that they aren’t going to do any real harm and that, more importantly, they have nowhere else to go. As the summer months arrive, though, “Halley” begins to bite the hands that feed her just once to often and when her attitude starts to attract the attention of the authorities - concerned about the well-being of her daughter, things start to become harder and harder for this couple to stay together and for “Bobby” to continue to help out. It’s quite ironic that this glorified homeless hostel sits so closely to the wonders of the Disney castle, and that contrast is well made. Unfortunately I just found, though, that this woman was just too much the architect of her own predicament to engage with and even though I could appreciate the efforts of the well-meaning “Bobby”, I found my interest in this family dwindling as the constant stream of expletives and thoughtless behaviour rendered the whole thing uninteresting. The acting from Vinaite and Prince is compellingly natural, especially towards the denouement, but somehow I felt that I ought to have cared more about their situation and any solution way more than I actually did. Is it supposed to be an indictment of a hopeless/helpless working class? If it is, it merely succeeds in depicting an obnoxious woman who has little interest in compromising or improving her own lot in life in an irritatingly “entitled millennial” sort of fashion. Dafoe doesn’t really say much - not that he gets much opportunity, and when he does he doesn’t really develop his character sufficiently. Too much is left to our own perceptions of and sympathies for these people and I just didn’t want to bother after the umpteenth bout of adult petulance. “Halley” might be trying to protect her daughter, but that kind of protection nobody needs - six years old or no and the angry and aggressive writing here just made me turn off.

"Sean Baker’s neo-realistic eye for humour, honesty and heartbreak has crafted a slow burn, potent commentary on America’s struggling underclass..." Read the full review here: http://screen-space.squarespace.com/reviews/2017/10/4/the-florida-project.html