SnoopyStyle
Lily Hobart (Juno Temple) is a restless damaged teen desperate to leave her Salton Sea trailer park. Alison Hoffman (Kay Panabaker) is her more reserved best friend. They run away to LA and follow Jesse (Kyle Gallner) and his boys. They get further and further into trouble as their friendship is put to the test.This is written/directed by first time Elgin James. It's a very solid debut. Juno Temple has carved out a nice niche in the damaged teenager roles. She is probably one of the best at that role right now. Kay Panabaker is one of the smarter actresses, and she fits this role. She's great at the friend role, and she's great as the wet blanket in LA. Leslie Mann has a great maternal feel. Kyle Gallner is the perfect companion to Juno Temple. Overall, the acting fits perfectly in a fairly lightly written movie. It's a well worn genre. It's not new, but it's well done.
carleystrong
Most movies usually aren't realistic. They might be to a point but lots have a happy ending and everything is okay. Little Birds is not like this at all. It doesn't have the happy bright movie feeling. Little birds is realistic and every single event in it could easily happen. This movie also teaches a great lesson and has its shocking surprises. We learn in this movie sometimes trying new things is good, but going too far can end with terrible results. Little Birds isn't just an independent movie, it's the hard cold truth to life and proves bad things do actually happen. Always trying to impress people isn't going to get you anywhere in life except possibly leading up to terrible consequences.
KineticSeoul
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
FilmRap
This movie is by first time filmmaker Elgin James who, developed it in a Sundance Workshop and it was accepted into the Sundance Film Festival which isn't a slam dunk for films that come up this way. James who wrote and directed movie comes from the streets of Boston and he chose to convey his gritty experiences through the characters of two teenage girls who come from the poverty stricken coastal town of Salton Sea in California and end up with some older boys on the streets of a grimy section of Los Angeles. The strength of the film is the insight and development of these two young girls Allison Huffman (Kay Panabaker) and Lily Hobart (Juno Temple) who are portrayed magnificently. Their attachment, dependency on each other and yet their differences unfold before us as they try to escape their environment. The storyline creates tension and anxiety. The three older boys with whom these girls connect David (Chris Coy), Louis (Carolos Pena) and John (Kyle Gallner) are as real as they can be and sadly operate just as you would expect them to. Compared to these five young people, the peripheral characters are somewhat an enigma to us as their back stories are thin and vague. They do seem authentic and there are excellent performances by Leslie Mann, Kate Bosworth, Neil McDonough and particularly by JR Bourne who does a captivating dramatic role at the conclusion of the movie. Although the little birds of this story had more reason to fly the coop than the daughters of many who are reading this now, we all know that when any teenager spreads her wings, anything can happen. This movie will be released in September and we will be rooting for it to fly. (2011)
AD
