Movie Review: 'The Florida Project' is one of the year's best

A24

The Florida Project (2017, directed by Sean Baker. U.S.A., English, Color, 115 minutes)
I went into "The Florida Project" completely blind. I had not read a single review, didn't watch any trailers, didn't even really know much on the story. The best perk about going into a movie blind is that you have no expectations about it. It's when the film is over and you realize you saw something great that makes it all worthwhile. "The Florida Project" surprised me immensely, and I loved it.


I don't know how to start describing the film. Well, for starters it is pretty thin on plot. The Kissimmee-set film has a bunch of characters it follows around, most of them being a group of precocious kids, and we observe them in their natural habitat as if it were a documentary on motel living. But, in fact, it's only a work of fiction, yet writer/director Sean Baker is able to pinpoint these all-to-familiar, rundown characters that it feels like a documentary, including Halley, a young, unemployed mom who does what she can to make a buck. The property manager of the motel she stays at comes off as a hard-ass, but he's a softie, especially for her little daughter Moonee. Their banter is built on tough love, comedic ball busting, and the drive to try to do the right thing.

A lot of the film centers on Moonee and her little gaggle of misfit friends. These little kids are so witty and alert you can't believe how real they are. They may not be as bad as, say, Rhoda Penmark, yet they get into plenty of trouble, as all unsupervised little kids are prone to, but they are smart enough to try to cover their tracks and be in agreement that nothing happened. They're also so manipulatively charming that you can't help to love them. I loved watching these unforgivably brash kids confidently appear older than they truly are as they do things like carry in a motel guests' bags expecting a tip and then get "free ice cream" by peddling for money. Their ideas and thirst for life are only limited by... well, nothing as it turns out. 

"The Florida Project" breathes life into a certain culture and life that we may not want to ever witness firsthand. Motel living where no one seems motivated to move on with life, or just struggle that much to try to move on. Do we know their situations? Not really. Do we get involved? Yes, deeply. Some characters are just flat out funny - including the naked sunbather - and others, like Halley, have a deep core that strive to do the right thing and are stuck within some kind of limitation to do it. It's like having a heart of gold when you feel that everyone is beating down on you and you don't feel like you can win. Funny how a film set just a stone's throw away from the happiest place on earth can feature some of the most sad and broken characters. Their spirits were not fractured, though, since they have their own moments of joy that isn't shrouded in materialistic things or corporate-infused happiness.

What is most spectacular about this films is that it is so open, never constricted to a formula of story or character development. These people live as naturally as we expect people to live: without a script, without expectations. There is no part of this movie that I didn't like because it felt so uncontrived. There was a mindful aura about it in that I didn't focus on anything, just letting myself observe the here and now. I had no thoughts racing through my head, only a yearning to want to continue to know these people, these strange, sad, often funny people. I don't want to be friends with any of them, but I liked learning about their human conditions and their intricacies. I don't know how Sean Baker can flesh out such fully-realized characters of this bottom-wrung social class, but he has his fingers on the pulse of a certain group of Americans no one else could bring to the screen with as much passion and soul. 

Rating: A