'BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD'

'BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD' (PG-13) (2 STARS)

Written by Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin
Directed by Benh Zeitlin
Actors: Quvenzhane Wallis and Dwight Henry

I admire movies that are different and "Beasts of the Southern Wild" is definitely different. Though I wish it was more than just different and that it went somewhere. The movie has the atmosphere but the story gets stuck and just doesn't have enough depth. It reminds me of a well intentioned film student movie that just becomes self indulgent. I have seen better movies that are like this, that went somewhere with the story.

The movie doesn't spell it out but it takes place in post Katrina Louisiana and centers on a poor father and his daughter, 6 year old Hushpuppy. Hushpuppy and her father live in "The Bathtub" which is a community of people living together in harsh conditions. Hushpuppy and her Pop live in a run down shack that is not a good place to reside in if the water level from the levee rises. Hushpuppy leaves to find her mother and runs into some creatures that might be only in Hushpuppy's mind. They are prehistoric creatures named Aurochs.

The movie is awesome at setting up an atmosphere and making "The Bathtub" a whole new World like "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome". Little Quvenzhane Wallis as Hushpuppy does a completely amazing job and it is a controlled performance better than most child actors. Her and Dwight Henry as the father give real and natural performances and that is good because the movie unfolds like we are watching a documentary.

So far so good but I think director Benh Zeitlin is so focused on setting up his atmosphere that he leaves his wonderful 6 year old main character stuck in a plot that goes nowhere. It just seems to me that the movie comes off as if the director is calling attention to how socially important his movie is. The movie just comes off as pretentious. Like this summer's "Brave" I felt no intensity or sense of adventure and peril in the story. It has a great atmosphere and performances that breathe life but it just doesn't do anything significant with the starting premise.

P.S For a more solid movie with naturalistic child performances and a better look at poverty check out "George Washington" by the very talented David Gordon Green.