Beasts of the Southern Wild Preview

In a small shrimping bayou town known as The Bathtub, Beasts of the Southern Wild is the story of six year old Hushpuppy who is "raised" by her wildman of a father named Wink.  Her mother is not in the picture and she is more often left in the company of various wild beasts of the bayou rather than family.  At six years old, Hushpuppy believes that life in the bayou and in the universe is fragile and depends on everything fitting together perfectly.  Her world, and the world around her is rocked when Wink contracts a mysterious disease the same time global warming results in melting ice caps and the unleashing of prehistoric beasts.  A storm nearly destroys The Bathtub and Hushpuppy and Wink manage to survive.  Hushpuppy can't bear to watch her dying father so she sets out to find her estranged mother, learning about herself and the real world in the process.

Beasts of the Southern Wild stars Quvenzhané Wallis in the principle role of six year old Hushpuppy.  It's always tough when the main character is so young to predict how the movie will pan out.  This is her first credited role, so there's nothing to reference.  And this may sound harsh, but the temptation as a critic (and as a movie goer in general) is to somewhat lower your standards if the performance isn't perfect by saying, "Well, she's only six".  The "grown-ups" don't get that leeway and in fact are held up to the standards of DeNiro, Hanks, Streep and Close when the notion of Oscar is brought up.  So what about the director? This is only Benh Zeitlin's fourth credited title as a director and only his first full-length feature film.  Again, not much help in trying to figure out what to expect from Beasts of the Southern Wild.

I'm not sure if it's a good thing or bad for Beasts that I just watched Life of Pi which is also about a youngster facing tragedy with wild beasts all fending for their lives and learning about themselves and the world at the same time.  The problem is that Ang Lee created so many picturesque scenes in Pi that were just jaw-droppingly beautiful, it's hard not to compare that to Beasts of the Southern Wild.  And judging on that aspect alone, Beasts pales in comparison from the preview.  Again, it looks like a good, heart-warming story, but I'm skeptical of a six year old carrying the movie on her shoulders.  I'm predicting a great first effort by many involved in this movie, but we'll see if it lives up to the Oscar hype surrounding it.  I'm predicting 3 stars, but I'm hoping for more.  Am I right?  We shall see.