Review of The Florida Project (2017) by Marty R — 10 Feb 2018

While the film-making is first class, and the director did an amazing job of immersing the audience in the world on screen, he mistakenly damages the prospects of the real people living in this world. It's easy to be heartbroken by the travails of a single father and his son, forced to give away a box of toys because they don't fit in the car they're using to move to another state, or the waitress who struggles daily to raise a good son, even if it means getting a beating from the film's main character.

Instead you find yourself passionately hating not just the stripper/prostitute,scam-artist mother, but also the daughter. In fact, the ending makes you cheer at the child's pain, actually hoping that it would be worse, as she finally faces a world where she can't disregard rules.

I wouldn't be surprised if some viewers hoped for her to be killed as she ran across the busy road. The real tragedy here is that the movie will harden the hearts of people who want to help practically everyone in these seedy SROs, and that attitude will make their lives harder, while the Halleys and Mooneys ruin it for everyone else.