Oak Hill

(USA - 2008)

With one celebrity after another, from pop tart to hasbeens, checking themselves into rehab, Oak Hill is certainly a timely film. Motivated by his recollections of the homeless shelters during his days as a reporter for the Jersey Journal, Peter LaVilla has set out to treat the artists as what they are away from their art, equals who have issues they need to conquer. Anytime Hollywood tries to deal with the downtrodden they are never credible because one will always look at a glossy production with big stars buried in paint as a story for their entertainment rather than any sort of representation of a real situation. TV movies are basically the same thing with B or C list actors, except they are always that much more cloying, as if everyone loves a sentimental pity party that grasps for our sympathy. If nothing else, Oak Hill is the sort of no frills independent film one can take seriously. Even though one of the three characters is supposed to be a famous actress, there’s nothing glamorous or extraordinary about their lives as they struggle through their day to day existence in a voluntary self help comfort center now that the entertainment industry has, in it’s various ways, devoured them.

The characters in Oak Hill have the potential to surmount the humble production the way any good drama does, by actually being compelling and having some things to say about people and life in general. However, while one could imagine this turning into a brilliant film in the hands of Mike Leigh, whose best film Naked features what essentially turns into a communal home by the end of the movie, or John Sayles, who understands how to work the characters around the similarities of their locale, background and desires, Peter LaVilla’s screenplay doesn’t comprehend how to distract us with interesting sidebars while the layers of the characters are subtly peeled the way Leigh or Sayles does. Instead, he tends to keep attacking the issue or two he gives each character, which gets rather tiresome by the second half, and makes the conclusion seem false and contrived.

Oak Hill is nonetheless the sort of film one will have some respect for, and I think enjoy to an extent, but for me this is the type of film that’s either classic or just sort of there. It’s mostly concerned with artists at various stages of their life, showing the frustrated if not crushed aspiration of young Madison, the broken dreams of middle aged Mollie, and yesterday’s heroes disposed of in the plummeting Miss St. James. It’s fairly successful at depicting the frailty of the characters as a result of the humanity the entertainment industry has seized, with Madison’s anger and Elizabeth’s privilege overwhelming their positive traits while Mollie, who is stagnant rather than (not really) rising or falling, being the only one who can still be good natured.

Ultimately, the main strength of Oak Hill is Rosemary Gore and her character Mollie. Comedy is Mollie’s game, but she’s as unfunny as someone who puts that much effort into crafting jokes can possibly be. The segue she gives to her old folks home audience, “If you don’t laugh at this one you definitely have dementia” is arguably better than any of her jokes, but she’s very good with people because she makes a legitimate effort on their behalf. In fact, even though she can’t make them laugh at her moron or enema jokes, she is extremely good at putting a smile on people’s face when she’s not telling a joke. Even though she lacks the phoniness and insincerity of the self-helpers, one gets the feeling she would have faired better in that field.

As the veteran of the no medical treatment home where one checks in to find themselves, Mollie takes on the role of friend and caretaker of all the misfits. In many ways, acting as referee and peacemaker between the warring factions helps her get through the day because her issue is choosing her comedy career over her children, but she’s selfless to the point of martyrdom. She will always accept everyone else’s problems even when they get her into trouble, and won’t make them take responsibility to get her off the hook with the supervisor, but encourages them to conquer their demons and get their act together so they follow in her footsteps and wind up being broken women who use Oak Hill as their walker.

Rosemary Gore’s Mollie is so believably down to earth and likeable. She’s a character you want to be around because she’s always interested in you and trying to improve your mood and situation. Gore really overachieves the script by just being a genuine human being, allows us to breathe, or in other words forget about all she’s trying to overcome and focus on the minute to minute reality rather than the endgame. It’s a testament to Gore’s work that even though her character actually changes the most over the course of the film, it feels as though Mollie changes the least because her transformation is far more subtle.

The Elizabeth St. James (Sally Kirkland) character is an attempt to deal with the two factors that do in most actresses, age and substance abuse, but somewhere between director Peter LaVilla and star Sally Kirkland, they never really find a consistent tone that makes it come across honestly. Kirkland has done some excellent work in the past, but while there are quieter moments where she shines, and thus brings out poignancy and truth in the St. James character, there are a few more where she comes off as a histrionic and cliched reprise of the vain, delusional, and self-entitled Gloria Swanson character in Sunset Boulevard. There’s a good flashback of a young Elizabeth (Laura Shapanus) at the height of her beauty and stardom refusing to work with an aging actor who isn’t as handsome as he once was, but the general problem with Oak Hill is St. James angst over aging is depicted in the most blatant in your face manner with her throwing drunken pity parties over growing old rather than finding indirect and creative manners to convey the point.

Kirkland may be a bit over the top at times, but Miss St. James is always a watchable character. Unfortunately, the third main character, Madison (Jeannie Evans), just doesn’t really work. She’s a substance abusing African American exotic dancer/prostitute who dreams of being a dancer and always responds to adversity in the most angry and aggressive manner. In a sense, the character is simply too similar to Mollie as both are more aspiring artists who can’t deal with never getting more than sporadic work and losing a family member in the process (in Madison’s case, she was rejected by her mother), however their demeanor could not be more different. Mollie can be a bit preachy on occasion when she’s putting her foot down and scolding her delinquents, but generally she’s a very laid back, relaxing character while Madison is always looking to irritate people, basically disturbing the neighborhood blaring her “jungle music” then takes offense to people’s desire to sleep through it. I don’t ask that a character be likeable, in fact I appreciate some of the most detestable characters ever put to celluloid, but Jeannie Evans simply forces everything to the point one can’t respect or root for Madison. She should give us the sense that she’s simply brash and out of control due to being an addict, but she has a way of attacking a scene rather than portraying it. This approach completely undermines the potential of her character because rather than revealing her vulnerability so we understand and perhaps pity her, she’s not only inauthentic but abrasive.

I don’t expect miracles with what’s essentially a three person play made for just $10,000, but after a compelling opening introducing the three women by crosscutting between them in their various professions, it kind of seems like they are just content to get the scenes in the can. The cinematography is competent enough to allow the film to succeed or fail on the strength of the performances, but the soundtrack is really annoying. It seems as though they could only afford 3 songs, so they keep using them over and over until you feel as if you are listening to top 40 radio. If there’s anyone I’d expect to know when less is more, it’s a no budget filmmaker such as LaVilla.

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