The Adventures of Ociee Nash (DVD)
While I usually enjoy the productions of Fox Home Entertainment, The Adventures of Ociee Nash is far beneath the quality that I have come to expect. The press notes tout this film as being in “the tradition of classic family fare like Old Yeller and Pollyanna� (Cleveland Plain Dealer), yet I wondered if the reviewer watched the same movie I did. For one, the dog in Old Yeller didn’t have a big ole cable rope tied around his neck so that he could be forced to stay in the action by being dragged around by the children all the time. And, if it we did see the same movie, the reviewer would have seen that Ociee Nash is a very thinly disguised remake of Pollyanna. Honestly, Disney just did it better.
Skyler Day makes her acting debut as Ociee, but, alas, she is no Haley Mills (Pollyanna). She could use a few more acting lessons, but she’s not alone—the rest of the cast seems to have difficulty delivering their lines or portraying convincing characters—even Keith Carradine (Ociee’s father) and Mare Winningham (Ociee’s aunt) struggle. Sometimes it even feels like someone is saying, “I’ve got a video camera, let’s make a movie and make up the dialogue as we go along.� Even the family golden retriever cannot act and has to be hauled around by a heavy cable collar to make sure that he stays in the frame! Everybody is always grabbing for that dog… which is totally distracting!
The film intends to show a young girl coming of age; unfortunately there is some inconsistency conveying the theme, particularly when, just before the end of the movie, someone declares that “even a young girl can make a difference.� (Is she truly coming of age, or just an extraordinary child?) Despite the confusion over her maturity, themes of bravery and selflessness do make an appearance: in the climactic scene, Ociee rescues her friend Elizabeth from her burning home. Subsequently, the town celebrates “Ociee Day,� since Ociee became a heroine by being brave and finding the courage to act—precisely the concept that she has been trying to teach others throughout the film. Sadly, the lack of clarity in the theme was only accentuated by a disjointed storyline.
Perhaps the strongest aspects of the movie are the cinematography and the costuming. (The costume designer nailed 1898 with both the rural and city dress.) The film is beautifully shot in the South and the color is rich and gorgeous; however, this is not necessarily enough to keep a viewer hooked. Other production glitches may overshadow the visual pleasantries. For example, due to some choppy editing, there is a sense of watching a series of vignettes rather than a complete movie, which feels very rushed and perhaps low-budget. Also, the actors seem to be unsure and nervous like they are off their mark and don’t know their lines well—potentially a mark of weak direction. (In fact, several times one or more of the actors does shift right or left while delivering lines.) And to make it even harder for the actors, the dialogue tends to be schmaltzy, laughable, and unrealistic in several places.
To its credit, The Adventures of Ociee Nash is family friendly. The strongest word in the film is “durn� and Ociee is severely chastised for using that. The DVD would certainly make a good “babysitting� film for a rainy day when mom and dad want to get some work done for 98 minutes, but it’s not a film built for grown-ups. Maybe a good conversation-starter with kids, but for my money, I’d rent Pollyanna.
Skyler Day makes her acting debut as Ociee, but, alas, she is no Haley Mills (Pollyanna). She could use a few more acting lessons, but she’s not alone—the rest of the cast seems to have difficulty delivering their lines or portraying convincing characters—even Keith Carradine (Ociee’s father) and Mare Winningham (Ociee’s aunt) struggle. Sometimes it even feels like someone is saying, “I’ve got a video camera, let’s make a movie and make up the dialogue as we go along.� Even the family golden retriever cannot act and has to be hauled around by a heavy cable collar to make sure that he stays in the frame! Everybody is always grabbing for that dog… which is totally distracting!
The film intends to show a young girl coming of age; unfortunately there is some inconsistency conveying the theme, particularly when, just before the end of the movie, someone declares that “even a young girl can make a difference.� (Is she truly coming of age, or just an extraordinary child?) Despite the confusion over her maturity, themes of bravery and selflessness do make an appearance: in the climactic scene, Ociee rescues her friend Elizabeth from her burning home. Subsequently, the town celebrates “Ociee Day,� since Ociee became a heroine by being brave and finding the courage to act—precisely the concept that she has been trying to teach others throughout the film. Sadly, the lack of clarity in the theme was only accentuated by a disjointed storyline.
Perhaps the strongest aspects of the movie are the cinematography and the costuming. (The costume designer nailed 1898 with both the rural and city dress.) The film is beautifully shot in the South and the color is rich and gorgeous; however, this is not necessarily enough to keep a viewer hooked. Other production glitches may overshadow the visual pleasantries. For example, due to some choppy editing, there is a sense of watching a series of vignettes rather than a complete movie, which feels very rushed and perhaps low-budget. Also, the actors seem to be unsure and nervous like they are off their mark and don’t know their lines well—potentially a mark of weak direction. (In fact, several times one or more of the actors does shift right or left while delivering lines.) And to make it even harder for the actors, the dialogue tends to be schmaltzy, laughable, and unrealistic in several places.
To its credit, The Adventures of Ociee Nash is family friendly. The strongest word in the film is “durn� and Ociee is severely chastised for using that. The DVD would certainly make a good “babysitting� film for a rainy day when mom and dad want to get some work done for 98 minutes, but it’s not a film built for grown-ups. Maybe a good conversation-starter with kids, but for my money, I’d rent Pollyanna.
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