Movie Review: Beasts of the Southern Wild. I ACTUALLY LIKE A CHILD ACTOR!!

Where's the guy that makes the tiny kid-sized oscars? 'Cuz HOLY CRAP WE NEED ONE.

I usually don't like child actors. Most of the time, the kids are so annoying and over-saturating the screen with their cutsie nonsense that i want to scream or cuff them up side the head. I hate kids coasting on their cutsieness and bullshit. The Santa Clause makes me cringe. The kids from It's a Wonderful Life piss me off. And I know I'll get some flack for this, but besides that kid with the pickle, The little rascals (especially the girls) hits a nerve. Unless the kid is well spoken or clever, or just acting like a little kid and kind of goofy, I can't stand it. This is why movies such as Home Alone, Stand by me, and some of the stuff that Dakota Fanning kid is in usually falls under the exceptions list. Most of the time, if the kid becomes famous for being cute, they are doomed to a failed career. Coasting on your cuteness is not the way to survive in Hollywood. I mean, have you seen Lindsay Lohan Lately?? Even Macauley Caulkan, who is one of those exceptions (though I was not a big Uncle Buck fan) is looking a little worse for wear.

Ok. Now that I have that out of the way, let's move on to this review.

I know that Quvenzhane Wallis is not going to win the Oscar. That's not how these awards work. Her performance, however, was definitely one I am happy was acknowledged by the various academies. In this role, I felt she wasn't made cute, she wasn't portrayed as a smarter-than-the-average-kiddo, she was a child. She lived with her dad as the world around her crumbled and her imagination ran with it. She wasn't trying to charm the audience or impress them, she was being the character: a kid.

Her performance was realistic and touching, as you saw her concept of the world through her eyes. The explanation to why her mum left; the oasis of living in the 'bathtub' of the south, away from the ugly city; the heartbeats of those around her; her fears and realizations when her dad goes missing. I can understand her reasoning to why she believes everything she is told, and can easily sympathize to very action and emotion that comes out of her. Based on her upbringing, she has little to compare anything to. When your dad is your world, how can anything he say be wrong?

I'd definitely say see this movie, but don't expect the usual movie with a kid in it. It's not a feel good movie, its not a movie that will necessarily rock your world, but I feel her performance and the movie as a whole will lift you in a way I can't exactly describe. It will affect you subtly, and it may take time to grow on you. If you didn't like it the first time, see it again, You may be thinking too hard.


-janeovision