I'm not sure I could've found a better palette
cleanser between The Last Jedi viewings than The Florida Project.
After all, this is a movie literally about living in the shadow of Disney. The
film takes place in a motel called the Magic Castle on the outskirts of
Orlando. The motel is mainly populated by people living there, although never
long enough to legally set up residence. Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) is a
six-year old living with her mother, Halley (Bria Vinaite), who is unemployed
(and arguably unemployable, thanks to her hair trigger temper and refusal to
listen to authority). The Florida Project is what I call a "slice
of life" movie. The plot is very loose. It's more of a collection of
adventures while Mooney is on Summer break with a few through lines.
A movie like this lives and dies by how well it
builds and populates the world it's creating. If I'm going to spend 90 minutes
hanging out with characters, I better like them or at least want to be around
them that long. The Florida Project has no problem with that. Brooklynn
Prince is a special talent. Despite only being six years old, she carries the
movie and never feels like she'd playing to the camera. Baker took a big risk
relying so much on child actors like Prince and her friends, but it pays off.
Bria Vinaite is not a professional actress. I believe she was found by Baker on
Instagram. She's pretty fearless in front of the camera though. She's not a
chameleon who can disappear into any role, but she's perfect for this one. The
only established (or even professional) actor in the cast is Willem Dafoe, who
plays the manager of the motel. I'm sorry to user a cliche, but he's the
beating heart of the movie. He's the glue that holds it together; the savvy
veteran the movie can turn to whenever the story gets close to spinning out of
control. When he's the only person in a couple months getting Oscar attention
for this film, it'll be justified.
What I liked the most about this movie is how
everything is done without judgment or sympathy. By the numbers, Moonee has a
pretty terrible life. She's surrounded by drugs and prostitution. Her mother
never has enough money and Moonee never knows where her next meal is coming
from. She had minimal adult supervision and constantly finds herself is risky
situations. That's just her life though and it's not without its merits. There
are a lot of people around her doing the best they can. Bobby (Dafoe's
character) in particular refuses to give up Magic Castle and the people living
there.
Part of the reason why the movie gets by with so
little plot is because when you are dealing with kids, everything feels more
perilous. I spent most of the movie tense, because I was worried something bad
was going to happen to Moonee or one of the other kids. It reminded me of the
scene in Boyhood when they are drinking and throwing the knife.
Intellectually, I knew nothing was going to happen because it wasn't that kind
of a movie, but the fact that it was dumb kids doing it made me very cautious.
This film wisely resists the urge to sensationalize things. Anything bad that
happens is more from cause and effect. It trusts the audience a lot.
Finally, the end of the movie. All I can say is that
of course that's how it would end. Even if I saw that coming, doesn't mean it's
the wrong way to end it.
Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend
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