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Every year, one independent film comes along that the entire family can enjoy. Granted, -it may play at your out-of-the-way local art house theater instead of a more convenient one, but don't let that stop you. The Adventures of Ociee Nash took me to another world; one of steam locomotives, horse-drawn carriages, swinging over creeks and a certain childhood freedom that seems a thing of the past. The set design is wonderfully done and music by Van Dyke Parks and cinematography by Brian Gunter is first-rate. The story is simplistic, but the film stays within a "G" rating for the entire family, a rarity now.

The Adventures of Ociee Nash features a look at a little girl growing up at the turn-of-the-last century. Like Forest Gump, Ociee becomes a heroine and also meets a President, in this case, McKinley, plus other historical figures of the time. The film is not unlike a Hallmark film, in that all is good here in Ociee-land. That's not bad, though, as the lead actress, Skylar Day, who looks like a young Lindsay Wagner, manages well with acting veterans as Keith Carradine and Mare Winningham. It is a refreshing look at an Americana-past when girls were expected to wear dresses and learn how to set a table.
 
It is 1898, and Ociee Nash is an unusual nine-year-old girl who lives in Mississippi. Her mother has passed away and Ociee is a tomboy, and won't wear a dress which has her brother saying, "Hey mister, where's your sister?" Dad sends Ociee to live with his sister Mamie (Mare Winningham). The train ride is an adventure in which Ociee meets famous people of the time. Just when you think the sweetness of the story is too much, along comes trouble to add spice to the mix. 
 
It is in the conversation with Nelly Bly that the film drifts off center. This is a lecture on how hard women strive to be recognized in a man's world, even to changing their names for business purposes. Nelly, is perhaps meant to show Ociee's budding independence, but it hits the audience like a hammer. Even at 90 minutes, the film seems a bit long, and it is especially noticable in Ociee's train ride. The view of a steam locomotive crossing a bridge in the autumn is always a wonder.

Copyright 2004 Marie Asner
Submitted 9/12/04