Omaha

Yesterday I had a double feature at the Broadway in the middle of the day (with a large group of other retired people who are now my new best friends) and I started with Omaha.  When this movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival two years ago, the filmmakers (who are from Utah) invited so many friends and family members that even pass holders were not able to get into the screening. A lot of people were really upset but I knew that it would eventually come to the Broadway so I just got in line for something else.  Needless to say, after all of that drama I was really excited to finally be able to see it but it left me feeling very bleak.  An unnamed father (John Magaro) suddenly wakes his two children, nine-year-old Ella (Molly Belle Wright) and six-year-old Charlie (Wyatt Solis), early in the morning in order to go on a cross-country road trip along with their golden retriever Rex.  Ella is immediately suspicious because he won't tell them where they are going and she starts noticing other clues that lead her to believe that something about this trip is very wrong.  It is implied that their mother is dead and that the bank is foreclosing on their house but it is obvious that their father is on edge and that he is rapidly running out of money.  They have a series of adventures, including flying a kite on the Bonneville Salt Flats, swimming in a motel pool, and visiting a zoo together, but the real reason for their trip is finally revealed when they arrive in Nebraska.  I thought that I knew where the narrative was going because, like Ella, I also noticed the clues but the resolution is somehow even worse than I was expecting and I'm not sure how I am supposed to feel about the father's actions because there is almost no context provided.  The action is very episodic and impressionistic with no exposition and very little dialogue so I was left with many questions, chief among them being why they had to go to Nebraska (this is answered in a closing title card that left me gutted as well as frustrated).  Magaro gives an incredible performance because he becomes more and more agitated as the trip goes on while trying to create happy memories with his children (it is a tightrope of emotion and he balances it well).  I was also very impressed with Wright because you can see the worry on her face even as she tries to give her father the benefit of the doubt and shield her brother from her growing suspicions (it is one of the best performances by a child that I have seen).  This is absolutely devastating but I don't think it goes far enough in its indictment of the father's circumstances.