Alabama Moon (2009)

After the unexpected death of his survivalist father, an eleven-year-old boy raised in the Alabama wilderness must learn how to make a home in the modern world.

Director:

Tim McCanlies

Writers:

Watt Key (based upon the novel by), James Whittaker (screenplay)

Stars:

Jimmy Bennett, Gabriel Basso, Uriah Shelton

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jimmy Bennett	...	Moon Blake
Gabriel Basso	...	Hal Mitchell
Uriah Shelton	...	Kit
Clint Howard	...	Constable Sanders
John Goodman	...	Mr. Wellington
J.D. Evermore	...	Oliver 'Pap' Blake
Elizabeth Jackson	...	Rachael Gene
John McConnell	...	Mr. Mitchell
Michael P. Sullivan	...	Mr.Gene (as Michael Sullivan)
Kenny McLean	...	Officer Pete
Lenore Banks	...	Mrs. Broomstead
Mark Adam	...	Uncle Mike
Walter Breaux	...	Mr. Carter
Gary Grubbs	...	Judge Mackin
Peter Gabb	...	George Albroscotto (as Peter J. Gabb)

Storyline

Moon Blake is raised by his loving but government-paranoid father Oliver in a hidden cave in the Alabama forests. Oliver dies from a leg wound he refuses to have medically treated, so Moon is told to move away, alone, and start a new home in the Alaskan wild-lands. Constable Sanders, however - the mean local cop - finds the boy with his father's guns, abuses him and has him locked away till majority age for 'assault' within Mr. Gene's grim Pinson home for boys. Moon soon makes friends with shy, sickly Kit and apparent bully Hal, then sets up a mass escape, on which only the trio actually follows through. Sanders fails to catch them, but the unforgiving elements reshuffle the cards dramatically. An uncle is meanwhile found.

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Plot Keywords:

boy | alabama | abuse | bully | death | 

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Taglines:

An adventure for the boy in all of us.

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Genres:

Drama | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements, language and a brief injury

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 March 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alabama Moon - Abenteuer Leben

Filming Locations:

Covington, Louisiana, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alabama Moon Entertainment, Faulkner-McLean Entertainment

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jimmy Bennett and John Goodman also appeared in Evan Almighty (2007).

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Goofs

Constable Sanders wears the rank of a General (star) on his shirt's shoulders but the rank of a Colonel (eagle) on his collars.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Moon Blake: Just before Pap died, he told me that I'd be fine as long as I never depended on anybody but myself. I made Pap's grave just like he done Mama's. All I'd have to remember her face was one picture Pap kept, but I can remember her in the bed at night, keeping me warm from the other side.

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Soundtracks

Racing
Written by Rondale Overstreet, Dorothy Overstreet, Jim Coman, Jacquie Snellman
Performed by Rondale

User Reviews

It's a sweet little drama nothing less,nothing more...

This film was exactly the type of film I guessed it would be from the trailer , a very simple family drama and there is nothing wrong with that , in fact I do like that sort of films for time to time. The story is pretty straightforward a kid living alone with his environmentalist father has to learn to go back to civilization once his dad dies of an infection of the leg. The kid goes into a jail for children were he makes his very first friends , bust out with them , fight the creepy sergeant who's always after him and learn to let go of the burden his late father had inflected upon him. All in all this film is pretty much 50 per cent drama and 50 per cent kids film, seriously , if it would have had the Disney logo attached to it , it would have been a perfect fit for the studio.The film is absolutely harmless.It shy away from how serious this peculiar subject could have been to favor more of a kids adventure format. There are scenes that are quite far fetched and the villain of the piece (Played by Ron Howard's brother) feels like he came out straight from a cartoon. At no time during that film I felt that something bad would happen to young Alabama and I just sat and enjoyed watching his journey unfold. It's not Oscar worthy by any stretch of the imagination, it's just a cute little film that you would have fun watching on a rainy day with your kids (whom I believe would love it). There are nice little touches like John Goodman (Always great to see him),the character of Kitt who's quite endearing and the young Jimmy Bennett who does a decent job as Alabama even if it's not as strong of a performance as the one he has given in "Trucker" ( By the way if you are really looking for a real serious drama who pulls no punches I would recommend this film instead). All I can say is I liked it , I don't think anyone who will watch this film will dislike it because there is nothing to dislike. The only problem I have with the film is the last 5 minutes is a bit much on the corny side and feels like it was taken from an episode of "The Waltons" but at the same time it fits the rest of the film. My Verdict : Kid friendly Drama that entertain without offering anything major to think about for adult viewers.Your kids (especially boys , will probably love it for it's adventure element) 6 out of 10.