AND JUSTICE FOR OWLS `HOOT' TEAM BRINGS BELOVED ENVIRONMENTAL BOOK TO SCREEN.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

Some would see the movie ``Hoot'' as a family film, a morality tale about the environment, or a story about unlikely bonds formed in the course of meeting a challenge. It's all of those, but it's also a love story.

Not the mushy, weepy kind, though. With middle-schoolers as lead characters, that would be pretty sappy.

It's the love of a book - ``Hoot,'' the youth-market best seller by Carl Hiaasen - as well as the time and place it honors. Set in present-day Florida, it recalls a bygone time of beach vistas uncluttered by high-rise hotels and apartments, glades and waterways clean enough for a quick dip and kids who survived quite comfortably without computers, iPods or cell phones.Roy (Logan Lerman), a newcomer to the small town of Coconut Cove, pursues a strange barefoot boy (Cody Linley) to his lonely hideaway and learns of his efforts to save some adorable and helpless burrowing owls from bulldozers. That boy, Mullet Fingers, with some support from his stepsister Beatrice (Brie Wilson), has been sabotaging the construction site, but Roy sets out to find a better way to halt the building. Officer Delinko (Luke Wilson) becomes an ally in their cause.

Hiaasen, 53, a Fort Lauderdale native, says he's never lived anywhere but Florida. Another Lauderdale kid, writer-director Wil Shriner, 52, recently turned in his Woodland Hills house keys to move back home. And 59-year-old Jimmy Buffett of ``Margaritaville'' fame, who bought the novel's movie rights, is legendary for his passion for the Keys.

``I always took pride in the beauty of Florida that I grew up in and around,'' Shriner said. ``I mean, I went to school as a kid by boat and water-skied home from school.

``(`Hoot') was like our childhood. It was Carl's childhood, it was all of ours. It's an homage to our youth.''

The idea of making the movie sounded almost doable when Hiaasen, Shriner and Buffett met one day on Key West for a lunch of grouper sandwiches. Buffett was eager to produce and contribute new music, but he also intended to call a friend in the business, frequent Steven Spielberg partner Frank Marshall, to see about signing him up for the project. Meanwhile, Shriner was vowing he would stay true to the book (``one of the few printable Hollywood promises,'' recalled Hiaasen, whose last book to hit the screen was ``Striptease'').

`Next thing I know is he's got all these guys involved,'' Hiaasen said. ``I thought, how are we going to get this thing made? We've got no wizards, no trolls, no dragons, no special effects.

``It's just kids who live in the outdoors trying to do something. And the odds of that getting done these days? Slim to none. It's a tough pitch. I didn't think anyone would go for it - and I was wrong, as usual.''

Shriner, a seasoned TV sitcom director, was stepping into his first feature directing assignment. Going back to his home turf provided some security, as did hiring some friends and relatives. Marshall plays a golfer, Hiaasen is the assistant to the disgruntled restaurant chain executive, and Buffett plays Mr. Ryan, Roy's very cool science teacher. Shriner also gave small parts to his daughter Natalie and to Jimmy's daughter, Sarah Delaney Buffett, and he cast his twin, Kin Shriner (Scotty Baldwin on ``General Hospital''), in a cameo as a records clerk.

``Francis (Ford Coppola) taught me that,'' Shriner said. ``If you're going to hire somebody, why not hire your own family?''

Hiaasen and Buffett also helped on location scouting, choosing the town of Boca Grande for Coconut Cove, a certain sandbar for a fishing scene and other relatively undisturbed sites with tall trees, alligators, birds and clear water.

Shriner said his aim was to be loyal to the book and respectful of his home state.

``I want us all to walk away at the end of the movie and say we did justice to the book. And that was my goal from day one, to make Carl happy and, of course, make a good movie."

When the film opens Friday, the goal will be attracting ``Hoot'' readers as well as those new to the title. Brie, 16, who plays the feisty Beatrice, has had a thing for the novel since it arrived in her mailbox in 2002 as a book club selection.

``I think I read that book in a couple of days. I couldn't put it down. And I wanted to make it into a movie when I was 12,'' she said. ``But ... when you're 12 years old, studios aren't going to give you $12 million to make this crazy movie about owls.''

Logan, 14, and Cody, 16, came to know ``Hoot'' later but also loved the book. Cody said he sees in the three young characters ``a good message to send to kids in that, if you really believe in something, don't be afraid to stand up for it.''

The film used real burrowing owls in every scene, and the cast and crew adopted three of the endangered creatures. It could be that little moral that inspired the birds' names.

``We named them Wil, Jimmy and Carl,'' Logan said.

Valerie Kuklenski, [phone]

valerie.kuklenski(at)dailynews.com

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) AN OWL'S TALE

Filmmakers give a `Hoot' in adaptation of conservation story

(2 -- color) ``Hoot's'' star trio, Brie Wilson, Logan Lerman and Cody Linley, demonstrate deep respect for the environment in the film, directed by Florida native Wil Shriner.

(3 -- color) Cody Linley and Logan Lerman take a ride on Florida's wild side in the movie, based on a novel by Carl Hiaasen.