Last week I managed to watch a movie that my manager thought I should watch at some point. She recommended that I should watch 'The Florida Project, a film that was well received and that wasn't that different from my own project.
After all, since my own screenplay was also about kids and about them growing up, she thought that I should check the film and compare it to my own story. She thought that I would get a good feel about what this 'genre' is about.
In any case, having now seen the movie, it has to be said that I have some mixed feelings about 'The Florida Project'. Even though this wasn't necessarily a bad film, there are some things about it that didn't really work at all.
So when it comes to the movie, very likely the biggest problem that I had with the film - that is about a single mom and her daughter - is that it has a relatively weak story. The screenplay for the film is lacking and doesn't have all the necessary elements in it.
By that I mean is that even though most of the characters in the film are fairly relatable and likable - especially the kids and the hotel manager (the wonderful Willed Dafoe) - they don't have proper story arcs in the movie.
What this basically means is that instead of the characters evolving and changing over the course of the story, they more or less stay the same. There's no noticeable change in pretty much any of the characters over the course of the film.
This lack of progression is unfortunate, because storytelling really is about characters changing - progressing or regressing. It's essential that you have people in your story that transform and become better (or worse) as human beings.
After all, nobody likes to watch a movie where characters just do stuff that doesn't have an effect on anything or anyone. Nobody wants to watch a film where too many random things happen without any real meaningful consequences.
In that sense, when I think about 'The Florida Project', it's clear that the film suffers from not having enough of these meaningful and progressive scenes. It's clear that the movie has problems when it comes to telling a story that has a point.
After all, even though there are a lot of good things here - the kids making the best out of their situation and the humanity in Willem Dafoe's character - that isn't enough. It's not enough to hold my attention throughout the length of film.
In the end, the movie would have been better, had it paid more attention to its script and to its story arcs. It would have been better had it made sure that there was more to the characters and that more things actually happened to them.
After all, just because the mother gets taken away at the end and just because the kids manage to temporarily 'escape' from their situation, that's a bit too little a bit too late for me. That's not enough drama or change to win me back.
In that sense, even though you should still probably see the film, I can't recommend it that much. I can't recommend it that much, because in my opinion, there are too many basic story problems in 'The Florida Project' that weigh the movie down a bit too much.
What this basically means is that instead of the characters evolving and changing over the course of the story, they more or less stay the same. There's no noticeable change in pretty much any of the characters over the course of the film.
This lack of progression is unfortunate, because storytelling really is about characters changing - progressing or regressing. It's essential that you have people in your story that transform and become better (or worse) as human beings.
After all, nobody likes to watch a movie where characters just do stuff that doesn't have an effect on anything or anyone. Nobody wants to watch a film where too many random things happen without any real meaningful consequences.
In that sense, when I think about 'The Florida Project', it's clear that the film suffers from not having enough of these meaningful and progressive scenes. It's clear that the movie has problems when it comes to telling a story that has a point.
After all, even though there are a lot of good things here - the kids making the best out of their situation and the humanity in Willem Dafoe's character - that isn't enough. It's not enough to hold my attention throughout the length of film.
In the end, the movie would have been better, had it paid more attention to its script and to its story arcs. It would have been better had it made sure that there was more to the characters and that more things actually happened to them.
After all, just because the mother gets taken away at the end and just because the kids manage to temporarily 'escape' from their situation, that's a bit too little a bit too late for me. That's not enough drama or change to win me back.
In that sense, even though you should still probably see the film, I can't recommend it that much. I can't recommend it that much, because in my opinion, there are too many basic story problems in 'The Florida Project' that weigh the movie down a bit too much.
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