The movie is set in 1898 and focuses on a young girl from a Mississippi farm who is sent to Asheville, NC to live with her aunt to learn how to be a proper young lady. The title character lost her mother to "the measles." Interstate travel is by passenger train. Local travel is by horseback or horse-drawn wagon or carriage. The opportunities for women in this era are severely limited. Keith Carradine's portrayal of Ociee's father, a widowed farmer who wants the best for his beloved only daughter, resonates with all the appropriate love and simple dignity. Skyler Day is quite perfect as Ociee. Mare Winningham, whose character, "Aunt Mamie," would have been a lifeless cliche in the hands of a lesser actor, makes Aunt Mamie a living, breathing, complex and slightly mysterious Southern Lady. All the child actors are completely believable. The scenery in the movie is beautiful. There is no bad language in this film, no violence beyond the level of a typical sibling wrestling match. The film has a quirkiness reminiscent of "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "Forrest Gump," but it can stand alone on its own merits. It should be irresistible to anyone who has ever wrestled with a sibling, climbed a tree, or been criticized for not being a "proper" young lady or gentleman. See it with someone you love.
Review of The Adventures of Ociee Nash
