The Florida Project (2017) review

This is the type of film that doesn't get made anymore. I could imagine this coming out in the 1970's during the American New Wave. It's the sort of the character driven film reminiscent of that era.

The Florida Project is the story of Moonee, played exquisitely by six or seven year old Brooklynn Prince. She's a young girl living in a tacky, dubious Orlando motel with her heavily tattooed white trash mother Halley. The film feels like a documentary. Almost everything takes place within the purple painted motel. The camera is usually at the eye level of the children and the audience sees the world from their perspective.

I think this realism is the reason I love this film so much. In an age where almost every movie is some kind of comic book story this film is a revelation. Moonee is unruly, mischievous little girl. She almost seems feral. She and her friends live close to Disney World but there is a juxtaposition between the two places. Few films have the courage to point out the social problems that this film shows. We see little kids running around a crummy motel with little parental supervision. The parents are all on some type of government aid and the motel is basically a halfway house or low income housing. The children don't exist on the same level as Disney World, which is like a shiny beacon of hope, happiness and tranquility.

These are the kids that the Trump administration has forgotten. These are the kids that will be passed along to different foster families and possibly end up in prison. These are the people that Americans turn a blind eye to because they are poor and Americans don't give a shit about poor people.

The one character who is sympathetic to them is Bobby, played beautifully by Willem Dafoe. Bobby is the manager of the motel and it's an atypical role for Dafoe but proves that his acting range is vast. The man can do anything. Two years later he would play an extra salty 19th century lighthouse keeper.

Many people had a problem with the ending of the film which I don't understand. I won't spoil anything but to me it was logical. It also made me feel something which I don't get with most films anymore. I love movies where I forget I'm watching a movie. I love movies where I connect emotionally to the characters because they don't feel like artificial, card board cut-outs but instead feel genuine.