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The Florida Project (2017)

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A terrific little exploration of the innocence of childhood as well as the hidden, not so magical part of the Disney World area. I don't think I've ever passed by The Magic Castle in all of my years of visiting the area; amazing to believe this place resides not too far from the extravagance of The Contemporary Resort and the other Disney hotels. The cast is perfect too: Brooklynn Prince is an astonishing and completely natural young actress, Bria Vinaite makes a potentially one-dimensional character feel very much like a real person, and Willem Dafoe is fantastic as the hotel manager who becomes a father figure of sorts to the kids running around the motel without their parents supervision. A-

 

Spoilery observation: the ending is probably gonna divide people, but I thought it worked perfectly. Just the right balance between sadness and hopefulness, and I got a kick out of

Spoiler

seeing the Magic Kingdom in all its glory on the big screen (I'm gonna assume that it was shot guerilla style). 

 

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HYPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
 

For real this shit is good. The kids are fucking amazing and Dafoe is at the top of his game. No film is perfect really but this is a total me movie, do it as real as possible and at the very end sprinkle in that cinematic cherry on top.

 
A- (90) 
 
#1 of the year for me so far I think. 
Edited by Jay Hollywood
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I figured this would end up being one of my favorite films of the year and it is. I don't live far away from where this was filmed and it was incredible how they portrayed this story. I ended up really caring for Halley despite all that she does throughout this because I could see that no matter what, she still really loved her daughter. The kids all feel like real children and not actors and they are almost feral to their environment. The twists aren't predictable and the film itself is this look into a world where kids create their own magic kingdom just outside the gates of Disney. There isn't a sore spot as far as acting (Willem Dafoe and Bria Vinaite really carry a lot of it) and I love how Sean Baker doesn't just spell everything out story wise and let's the audience figure it out.

I actually liked the ending a lot because it obviously could never happen. The hotels and gift shops are all around Kissimmee (at least it looked like it) and Disney is further from that then most people think. It's a full exit away. The Mickey Mouse electrical pole is miles from where they are. They could never run there so it was obviously Moonee's or Jancy's imagination. And to me it fit despite the rest feeling totally authentic because of the change in score, film, etc.

I really don't know how they could have ended it either. We as the audience knew what happened despite that final run. I would rather see a child's imagination of how things turned out than to see Moonee taken away even if it was in her best interest. And that's the type of ending that stays with you and makes you question what the rest was really getting at if Disney was the end goal. 

I had suspicions that all the places the kids go feel like their own versions of attractions (that no tourist would want to go to) and the ending just added to that.

Really powerful film.

A

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Rewatched this the other night and this is definitely in my top 3 for 2017. Such a great film that I strongly believe the Academy overlooked in multiple categories. Held up just as well as the first viewing.
 

And an excellent explanation on the ending and why it means a lot more than just being a childs imagination:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/10/19/the_florida_project_s_ending_is_perfect.html
 

"We're changing mediums at the moment that the little girl grabs her hand, and so this whole final scene could really be seen as just an extension of Moonee's imagination. Hopefully now the audience is thinking about how those children have to make the most of it every day, and how they have to make the most of their tough situation by using their wonderment and imagination." - Sean Baker

Meaning there is no escape from the harsh reality of the ending. Baker spends a lot of time showing another kid in the apartment when Moonee gets there which tells the viewer that the authorities would have been right behind her when she finishes crying. The film really ends when she says "Bye" to Jancey.

The rest is how tourists see this area (which is why we revisit a lot of locations in that final run that were previously shown but with the Celebration instrumental - which is a callback to the opening credits). And where else would a childs imagination want to go then "the most magical place on Earth" and the attraction that all of those locations revolve around. It's the type of thing that really stays with you long after the movie is over.

"A24 said today it will donate 5% of proceeds from the first week of digital sales of The Florida Project to a charity that assists families that are either homeless or living in motels along Osceola County’s Highway 192 corridor, just like the ones depicted in Sean Baker’s film."

http://deadline.com/2018/01/the-florida-project-charity-donations-community-help-center-1202274204/

Edited by somebody85
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The Florida Project captures a part of the world we rarely see in cinema, and from the perspective of children as well. It’s hard to really critique this in a traditional sense; although the plot emerges once you’ve finished it, the film feels more like a series of loosely connected vignettes that engage thanks to the charm of the actors and the smartly realistic writing. Baker’s direction is subtle but excellent and the cinematography frequently astounds with its smart use of color.

 

Prince delivers a child performance that’s both shockingly real and never flashy. Dafoe’s turn here is one he should be forever remembered for, a decent man who is trying to make the world a slightly better place. The way Baker plays with his star image and how game Dafoe is to do that while keeping the character grounded is incredible.

 

This all leads to a stunning ending where the final moments are impossible to evaluate but what leads to them utterly destroys the viewer’s emotions in every sense. The Florida Project is one-of-a-kind, a harrowing portrait of the America we choose to ignore outside of the dream we all strive towards. One of last year’s most stunning films. A

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