Little Birds (2011)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Don't Believe the Hype

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Little Birds (2011)A harrowing movie, a slice of very believable and scary life for two fifteen year olds looking to escape their awkward or dysfunctional families. What they get into, moving from the Salton Sea to L.A. in a stolen truck, is a nightmare for any parent. Yet for the girls there is a mixture of adventure and discomfort.All of this depends a lot on a great ensemble cast, which is pretty much here. The two girls are terrific--I had just seen Juno Temple in another excellent indie and sought this out. The boys they run into and hook up with are a little wild at first (and then more wild later) and weave into the story with surprising ease.This is a low budget movie but it makes the most of a series of scenes inside and out that keep it from feeling constrained. The Salton Sea parts are both beautiful an so impoverished they are sad. When the edge of L.A. comes in it's rougher and yet filled with energy. The girls are divided on how the city works on them. Temple's character is exudes confidence, and sometimes has it, too, and so she gets in deeper. The other girl, played by Kay Panabaker, is more morally solid and yet more scared, and she plays a perfect counterbalance to her friend.Writer and director Elgin James is just starting out here (that's part of what Indie films are all about) and the movie might not soar or show particular originality, but it does hold up pretty well in normal dramatic terms. The sets are very real--gritty and rough, for sure--and the acting matches. It's quite well shot, too, if nothing special is going on--give the editors some of the credit for keeping it fluid.You wonder by the end what the larger point might be, beyond a very distracting entertainment. There might be a little (a little) sense of "there's no place like home" at work. And there's a kind of buddy movie at work--the two girls being the pals on the road. Mostly it's about how tough some teens have it, and how they want to find ways to survive that surprise their parents (usually singular, parent). It's also a tale of how kids want a lot from everyone and everything--life seems so fertile and large--and how they know so little about how to get it.So, with vulnerability on their sleeves, these girls are a little bit of all of us. No, we aren't all so fully stupid or careless, but maybe in small ways we are all the same.

This is another one of those movies with a girl that has emotional issues because of superficial problems. And has a friend tagging along. And in movies like this they can be the loyal and righteous friend or the one that is a complete negative influence. In this it's the loyal and righteous friend and the main protagonist Lily Hobart(Juno Temple) is the one that is trying to find acceptance and pleasure. And thus joins up with few troublesome skateboarders. The thing is it's difficult to sympathize with a character like Lily Hobart in this when she has a loving mother and a loyal friend and hasn't been emotionally screwed by other people harming her physically. I can sympathize with Juno Temple's role in "Killer Joe" but not really in this one. Plus after watching "Beasts of the Southern Wild" the problem the protagonist faces is way far from being as bad. She just comes off a uptight selfish girl that uses other people and gets used as well. I don't know but I got kinda numb to these types of movies after a while. These types of movies are watchable in my opinion but just far from being all that entertaining. Some have sorta engaging aspects going for it but not really in this one. Besides certain parts about peer pressure, this one is passable.5.5/10

I was tricked into giving this film a look after seeing a well edited preview. With all due respect to all the people who worked on this thing, it is absolutely horrible. To be fair, there are approximately three to four well framed pieces of cinematography. Other than that, this is utter garbage. The filmmaker 'gazes' mercilessly at his fifteen year old protagonist from beginning (the film literally opens with her naked in a bath tub) to end. The metaphors are obvious and clunky. The story the same 'got to get out of this boring town' cliché that we've all seen ninety six times already. It is essentially straight forward, artless, misanthropy. Pretty much every thing about this film is absolutely embarrassing. Whoever at Sundance decided to insure the making of this film should be promptly fired.

I really liked this movie, it was very honest , real and dark and that's how i like movies to be . this movie is about being in a bad situation where there seems to be no hope and wanting to get out and away to something better not knowing that every where you go its more or less the same , but you gotta do it so you can really know . the acting is really good , i loved loved loved the music in this film also.congrats to the director for this amazing movie.this is what real art is all about. i believe this movie has something for everyone to relate to , we all at some point of our lives felt like the main characters in this movie , specially as teens.