"The Adventures of Ociee Nash" is so well-intentioned and so sweet-natured that it can almost fool you into thinking it's a better movie than it is. Almost.
Unfortunately, this family drama really overdoes it on the sweets, to become saccharine, even sappy, in just a short time. And despite having some name actors in its cast, the film looks and feels very amateurish, letting its low budget show through on more than one occasion.
Also, the filmmakers force young actress Skyler Day to carry the entire film on her shoulders, and it's a burden for which she is not ready.
However, Skyler does show some charm as Ociee Nash, a 9-year-old tomboy living with her widowed father (Keith Carradine) and her two brothers (Bill Butler and Charles Nuckols IV).
Believing that Ociee needs more of a female influence in her life, her father ships her off to North Carolina to stay with an aunt (Mare Winningham), in the hope that she'll learn how to be a lady.
Along the way, Ociee meets up with several historical figures, including Nellie Bly (Donna Wright), the Wright brothers (Sean Daniels and Ty Pennington) and President William McKinley (Daniel Burnley).
She also makes a new best friend, the prim-and-proper Elizabeth Murphy (Jasmine Sky), who begins acting more like a rough-and-tumble buddy, and together the two get into some trouble.
The problem here is not necessarily the predictability or the overly familiar situations, as bothersome as they are. It's the cloying, sickeningly sweet spin put on everything by filmmakers Amy and Kristen McGary.
And for a relatively short film (under 100 minutes), this one moves at a snail's pace and seems heavily padded (all the historical "cameos" are wince-inducing).
Still, the film does have one real asset in Day, who has a winning presence. The rest of the cast — even veterans Winningham and Carradine — seem to wish they were somewhere else.
"The Adventures of Ociee Nash" is rated G for a couple of scenes of mild violence (including some rough-housing and some moments of peril) and some mildly vulgar humor. Running time: less than 100 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com