Have you ever watched a film and just thought "how did they mess up so badly?" Well...that was my reaction walking out of the drama Beasts Of The Southern Wild. It screws up in more ways than one. Not only is it boring, not only is it phony, not only does it feature unappealing characters, not only is it slowly paced...well..you get my point.
The film follows a little girl named Hushpuppy (Quvenzhane Wallis) whose father Wink (Dwight Henry) abuses her both mentally and physically. However...as the story needs to go...Hushpuppy wants to stand by her father through thick and thin. There is nothing appealing about Wink...he's just a mean person and we wonder why she would not consider running away. Thus begins the pile of cliches that could have been heartwarming if done right but rather flop and wiggle on the floor until about fifteen minutes in...they finally die out.
The film also features phoniness in its storytelling and execution. It tries to have bragging rights about how nice the whole art house vibe of the film is but that would require actually having something good about it. Rather...the film is boring and very slow paced. I can not express in words how slow paced this film is. Even at 90 minutes...it feels like three hours.
Perhaps Beasts Of The Southern Wild does have some heart somewhere in it. I did not see it, however and the whole thing feels like a sham. It probably feels that way because it is.
(1/2 star out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for thematic material including child imperilment, some disturbing images, language, and brief sensuality)
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