() () () () ()
Sean Baker
May 22, 2017
“The Florida Project” is an all too common story about a single mother and her daughter living life meal to meal. The mother Halley (Bria Vinatie), can’t keep a job so she makes ends meet by selling perfume to tourists in carparks. Meanwhile, her six-year-old daughter Moonee runs around with her friends, behaving as if the world existed only to serve their needs: hustling adults, spitting on cars, and setting things on fire. Although the hotel manager (Willem Dafoe) sees hundreds of Halley and Moonee every day, he can’t seem to detach from those who live in his rooms.
The bright tones and grainy film make a perfect fit to the sun-soaked neighborhood. It helps hide the fact that if it was filmed in a grey concrete jungle like New York, the attitude would have been much more grim and the viewer might actually feel bad for the kids. Instead they bounce from hotel to hotel that have their own separate color flair, and with no one to tell them “no”, they live in complete ecstasy.
What’s great about “The Florida Project” is that it has scenes that serve little purpose, and instead let the audience spend more time with the characters. The plot itself is told more from the point of view of Moonree making the film much more romantic. The movie tries to shield her from the harsh reality of what her mother lives through in corporate America but leaves a few gaps that allow for very heartening scenes. A big supporter to these gladsome moments is Willem Dafoe who played the warm and caring hotel manager. Director Sean Baker was afraid that with such a recognizable face, he would stand out in a movie filled with non-actors. But because of how transformative he is he got to keep the role, and spent a week in Florida to adjust to the style of life. It was a huge leap for him to take a movie role that is lead by an Instagram model, but by going through with it he proved he had already got Bobby’s personality down pat.
BelowBlue Movie Reviews 