Customer Reviews

When I Find The Ocean

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

An award-winning saga inspired by a true story, When I Find the Ocean is a movie about a young girl coming to terms with the loss of her father. The ocean claimed the life of Lily Strickland's father; lacking a way to say goodbye, she leaves her grandparents and mother to confront her own fears amid the challenges of the wilderness. A deeply emotional, family-friendly movie unfolds, shot against breathtaking seacoast, river, and forest natural scenery. Highly recommended. PG, 104 min., closed captioned (but not subtitled).

This movie boasts that it is a "family" movie and is rated PG. So far, so good. The cast is quite good--Diane Ladd, Lee Majors and Graham Greene. Greene is an excellent actor and has received an Oscar nomination in the past. Well, there won't be any bids for the Oscar on this one.

Despite calling itself a family movie, you get to watch a little girl who cannot come to grips with her father's death, child beating (welts and cuts are all over her back making you wonder how she can walk without crying), a child who has been told that her stepfather to be is going to kill her dog, a child running away and getting caught by the type of animal traps that will snap your leg off, two mountain men left over from Deliverance who slobber over the fact they caught a pretty girl in their trap, a panther stalking the child, the Ku Klux Klan in action and a Black mother and child burning to death in their home.

The camera work is clumsy and toward the end of the film it becomes atrocious. This is the first film I have ever seen where different scenes are not blended together. When the scene stops, the screen goes black until the next scene appears. At first, our family thought the TV had broken. Then we were sorry it hadn't.

I note that the film festivals where the film has won awards are for amateur film makers. So, maybe I'm being too hard. Still I can't help but wonder how really good actors got caught in it. They have a terrible time trying to portray their parts due to the script which is mostly in single sentences. None of the parts are rounded out so all of the acting stays on the surface. The movie attempts to show why prejudice against the Blacks is wrong and then casts Graham Greene as a stereotype Indian in a kind of 'Tonto' role which is confusing. In fact, this is where the script loses its way. It starts with an unhappy child running away and ends up with a sermon on racial discrimination.

Don't waste your money on a home movie.

I first saw this movie when I borrowed it from the video store. It was a very good movie!!! It teaches us that child abuse, animal cruelty and racism is wrong and should never be tolerated. I like Lily because she knows what is about to happen and she is looking for peace. I HATE the stepfather!!! just seeing him abuse Lily made me feel like fighting him. That guy is such a bastard!!! I was glad the police arrested him in the movie because he deserved to go to jail. Overall, the movie was good and had a great message to it. I would definately allow my friends to see it. it is a really good movie.

a nice story, but bad acting, by a few of the "b" stars. a bit thin in the story line, it should be more of a childrens walt disney movie , on a tight budget. the dog steals the show. so does the scenery. the little girl needs more acting lessons, she was the directors daughter, and it shows. next time get a real star. with some personality.

My family enjoyed the movie, and I would recommend it to others. It is an amateur film, so it lacks some of the finesse of a larger budget production, but the story is touching and pulls the viewer into the 1960's South. The film has won honors at film festivals around the nation, and with good reason. This movie will appeal to young and old alike.

I heard alot about this film before and as it was being made because the story itself and the filming took place in my home state of Alabama. This film has a wonderful message and is a beautiful story. Some of the story lines are a little short on build or has quick solutions but it would have taken away from the central story so that can be overlooked. It is a great movie for the whole family to enjoy together and might open discussions and chance to share some memories of growing up.

This movie is clean enough for families (although the abuse may be rather frightening for small children), but it was terrible - absolutely boring (and I'm very easily amused). The little girl did a bad acting job, her mother irritated me to no end, and the plot drifts all over the place. The way her dead father "calls" to her is just weird. It may be Dove approved for being clean, but it is no indication of entertainment value. Lee Majors is about the only redeeming factor. My husband and I both consider this to be the worst movie of all times. When we rent a movie we've never seen before, we joke about how we hope it's not another "When I Find the Ocean."

This movie has some famous actors in it yet the director (tonya holly) apparently could not get them to make this a really good film. The star Lilly, really would she not at least put up a fight to keep from getting beat by her mother's fiance? How could her mother, grandmother or grandfather not know she was being physically abused by their former daughter-in-law fiance? If you are going to get into civil rights of the 60s,at least do it some justice! I was not impressed with this movie and I live in Alabama.