OMAHA (no distrib): A tiny tragedy that doesn’t reveal the true depths of its sadness until the very end. One morning, a widowed father (John Magaro) hurries his children, 9-year old Ella (Molly Belle Wright) and 6-year old Charlie (Wyatt Solis), out of their house as it’s being foreclosed, and tells them to pack up for a festive family vacation in Omaha. Ella perceives that there’s something desperate in her father’s determination that they have a good time (even as he keeps a worried eye on their remaining funds), but she’s not capable of understanding the specifics. Charlie rarely thinks ahead, but he’s very much in his father’s and sister’s minds. Omaha, directed by Cole Webley from a script by Robert Machoian (himself director of the Sundance film The Killing of Two Lovers), is a beautifully controlled piece of observation, as Ella enjoys the treats and excursions (to a multiplex and the zoo, among other places) their father is giving them while also absorbing that their lives are being pulled apart. She’s hopeful and also fearful, aware that this story probably won’t have a happy ending. It doesn’t, and the reveal of why their destination was Omaha is heartbreaking, but Omaha is also about spontaneity and love. Webley wisely keeps the running time to a slim 83 minutes, so even when the family is just driving, there’s constant motion and incident. There aren’t a lot of dimensions to Omaha–like Ella, we don’t know exactly what we’re watching until it’s done–but it captures the dynamics of fatherhood and childhood, stretched to their extremes, in a memorable manner.
RICKY (no distrib): Director Rashad Frett (and co-writer Lin Que Ayoung) bring sincerity and compassion to Ricky, but one has to ask: has there ever been a story about an inner city ex-con returning to his neighborhood where things didn’t go badly? Ricky (Stephan James) is particularly primed for suffering, as we learn that his 15 years in prison (which began when he was himself 15) were so long because he wouldn’t give up his cousin Terrence (Sean Nelson), who was part of the crime. Terrence says he wants to help Ricky now with a new job, but he’s only willing to help if there’s no risk to himself. Ricky has some people on his side, like his parole officer (Sheryl Lee Ralph, showcasing her range beyond Abbott Elementary) who has a complicated relationship with Ricky’s mom and their community, and a kindly neighbor with a car to sell (Titus Welliver), and he’s also met a single mom (Imani Lewis) who seems genuinely nice. However, Ricky’s younger brother (Maliq Jackson) is less then sympathetic, and a sexual encounter with a fellow ex-con from his support group (Andrene Ward-Hammond) moves swiftly from ill-judged to catastrophic. Ricky has an earnest message to deliver about recidivism and personal integrity, and in James the filmmakers have an empathic actor capable of making the worst decisions comprehensible and his character deserving of some luck. In its storytelling, though, Ricky feels old-fashioned and even predictable. It rarely departs from the one-lane downward track of its sad road.
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