In 'Omaha,' a father and his girls hit the road, with tensions along for the ride
Key takeaways
- Our first clue that this leave-taking lies somewhere between planned and spontaneous is in Martin’s gently charged response in answer to his daughter’s initial confusion: What would you take if the house were on fire?
- Nothing is ablaze, of course, but a woman from the sheriff’s department is outside, monitoring this early departure, asking questions of Martin that we can’t hear, yet not stopping his wish to drive off quickly.
- The actor studied CBS teams and learned how to operate vintage broadcasting equipment to portray a producer covering the 1972 terrorist attack at the Summer Olympics.
Print 1 p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix"> The quietly affecting indie drama “Omaha,” from director Cole Webley, comes with a child’s smiley face drawn in that “O,” even as the opening scene before that title card suggests anything but a family trip built around pleasure.
As the soft morning light hits a flat, rural, unnamed town somewhere in the West, John Magaro’s Martin carries his sleeping 6-year-old, Charlie (Wyatt Solis), to their Toyota wagon, then wakes up his 9-year-old, Ella (Molly Belle Wright), so she can put together some things and corral their dog Rex. Our first clue that this leave-taking lies somewhere between planned and spontaneous is in Martin’s gently charged response in answer to his daughter’s initial confusion: What would you take if the house were on fire?
Nothing is ablaze, of course, but a woman from the sheriff’s department is outside, monitoring this early departure, asking questions of Martin that we can’t hear, yet not stopping his wish to drive off quickly. Ella, whose innocent, concerned face shows an interest in reading her father’s moods, has picked up that a new horizon isn’t entirely lamentable. Besides, there’s a rousing singalong to “Mony Mony” in the car (a song we gather was enjoyed greatly when their mom was alive), Charlie’s in goofy spirits and, at the gas station, Dad buys a kite for when they hit Utah’s salt flats. Fun has to be built into road trips, no?