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      Little Birds

      2011, Drama, 1h 36m

      22 Reviews 1,000+ Ratings

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      Little Birds  Photos

      Little Birds (2011) Little Birds (2011) Little Birds (2011) Little Birds (2011)

      Movie Info

      A restless teen (Juno Temple) convinces her best friend (Kay Panabaker) to help her steal a vehicle and head to Los Angeles, where she hopes to find the skateboarder (Kyle Gallner) with whom she experienced her first kiss.

      • Rating: R (Some Violence|Drug and Alcohol Use|A Sexual Assault|All Involving Teens|Pervasive Language|Sexuality/Nudity)

      • Genre: Drama

      • Original Language: English

      • Director: Elgin James

      • Producer: Jamie Patricof, Alan Polsky, Gabe Polsky

      • Writer: Elgin James

      • Release Date (Theaters):  limited

      • Release Date (Streaming):

      • Box Office (Gross USA): $16.6K

      • Runtime:

      • Distributor: Millennium Entertainment

      • Production Co: Polsky Films, Sundial Pictures, Hunting Lane Films

      Cast & Crew

      Juno Temple
      Kyle Gallner
      David Warshofsky
      Kate Bosworth
      Leslie Mann
      Elgin James
      Max Burger
      Monique Burger
      Kevin Iwashina
      Stefan Nowicki
      Reed Morano
      James
      Todd Fjelsted
      J.B. Popplewell
      Rosie Sanders
      Trayce Gigi Field

      News & Interviews for Little Birds

      Critic Reviews for Little Birds

      Audience Reviews for Little Birds

      • Apr 06, 2014

        As far as cautionary tales go, "Little Birds" is a dull, dreary, illogical, drawn out and predictable one with Juno Temple playing Lily, at this rate the kind of infantile woman she will be playing well into her fifties. Lily is bored at the lack of anything in the small town she lives in with her best friend Alison(Kay Panabaker). All of which could have easily been established in the five minutes it takes to walk across it, instead of the movie being half over before any kind of plot kicks in. That involves the visit of some boys from Los Angeles. And in one of the movie's only highlights, you can see the look of bliss on Lily's face after the ritual of exchanging clothing and phone numbers between her and one of the boys has been completed. So taken is she that she then tries to persuade Alison to drive them all the way to Los Angeles. Alison is so loyal to her friend that she does not yet recognize that they are heading in much different directions, much less that Lily is a train wreck, having almost literally caused one earlier and otherwise antagonizing everybody else in a thirty mile radius. Oh well.

        walter m Super Reviewer
      • Jan 08, 2013

        How far would you go? Decent good movie! Little Birds is a solid and stable genre-exercise but nothing more. It undermines its true potential, and too often allows its characters to stew in just average material. I would've liked to see more scenes involving the teens attempting to make conversation with their parents and vice-versa. Shouting matches can get tedious, especially when you've seen a handful of films centered on rebellion. It's also interesting to note that this makes young Juno Temple three for three in the game of "how many poor, listless trailer park characters can I play in films?" with the two home-runs Dirty Girl and Killer Joe already under her belt. I love Temple as an actress and feel she has attitude and charm that could stretch a mile wide, but perhaps in order to test her abilities more she should move up the social class food chain to either comfortably poor or low middle class. Even the most skilled and reliable typecast actors need a breath of fresh air. Lily and Alison face a life-changing event after they leave their Salton Sea home and follow the boys they meet back to Los Angeles.

        Super Reviewer
      • Apr 09, 2012

        A fresh and harsh-reality look at a coming of age story, involving two young girls, Elgin James' "Little Birds" brings Juno Temple and Kay Panabaker together for some of the best young woman acting since "My Girl". Temple plays wild child Lily, who lives in the Salton Sea, dreaming of drowning herself, cutting herself, and running off to Los Angeles with her homeless boyfriend, Jesse (Kyle Gallner). Panabaker plays the quite opposite, Alison, who rides horses, knows how to shoot a gun, and loves her quiet mannered father. When Lily is threatened by another girl, she talks Alison into driving her to the City of Angels, where they shack up with three homeless boys and adhere to wrecking havoc on the streets of L.A., stealing laptops and luring pedophiles into their abandoned hotel to steal their wallets and then blackmailing them. Temple is pristine in this role, having the perfect look to match her anarchist behavior, while Panabaker couldn't be more perfect for her role as well, radiating an innocence and naivete that rivals the best in any similar performance. Although slightly predictable in story, "Little Birds" flows nicely, engaging the audience while the girls steal the show.

        chris h Super Reviewer
      • Mar 17, 2011

        "<b>Little Birds</b> is a film about a teen named Lily that is desperate to escape her small town and the baggage it brings with it. She is itching for freedom from her boring life. When Lily and her best friend, Alison stumble upon three street kids and one invites Lily to join them back home, they decide to see how far some freedom will take them. Alison is quite comfortable in her life, but she is in some way desperate to please Lily so she does what she can to make their friendship survive. Even if that means stealing her bosses truck to help Lily escape for awhile. Juno Temple is fastly becoming a favorite of mine. She is fearless in the roles she takes. I admire that in an actress/actor. It was my first time (I think) seeing Kay Panabaker in a movie. I think she's great. Her and Temple really worked well together. Everyone else does a good job in this as well. I would have liked if there was a little bit more story to these young ladies past. All in all a good indie flick."

        Super Reviewer

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