In the vein of Charlie Kauffman's narrative and convention flipping scripts comes a new form of experimental filmmaking. Writer/director Tonya S. Holly, boldly stretching limits with her first film, proposes a return to simplicity that would make Clint Eastwood jealous. In When I Find The Ocean, Holly achieves auteur status by encouraging her cast to pretend that they were each acting for the first time, a suggestion that results in unparalleled success.
Ben Stiller's chief inspiration for
Tropic Thunder, Holly tested her cast's dedication to the story by consistently placing unannounced acting tests in their paths. Sending an early message by casting her complete novice daughter in the lead role, Holly sets a strong standard for uninhibited, raw acting. The star of several living room productions, Lily Matland Holly benefits from sharing names with her character but is cut no additional slack. Her lack of diva baggage is refreshing as is her unwillingness (or is it inability?) to rehearse the script. Plus, there is a keen awareness that failure to obey direction will result in a an early bedtime and no dessert.
For the role of an abusive stepfather, Tonya Holly hired Richard Tyson, a Chris Isaak impersonator on leave from his seasonal show in Branson, Mo. Keeping "Wicked Game" and "King Without A Castle" a hard glance away from getting stuck in their heads all day, Tyson serves as an omnipresent challenge to the cast's focus. Combined with the force that is Lily Holly, the more experienced actors face an hourly onslaught of distractions.
And the rain keeps coming. To make things more interesting, no one explains the significance of tombstones to Lily. Her understanding is that the grave marker is merely a symbol of her father...not that anything rests below it. In a related matter, Lily's wish to see the ocean and solve the mystery of her father's voice in her head forces the cast to regularly question their geographical knowledge. The Gulf of Mexico? The ocean? Close enough. The struggle for truth and 3rd grade self-confidence produces more emotion than can sometimes fit in a single frame.
Other intentional double-takes include a stuffed panther; Lily in shoe polish blackface; a KKK picnic by the shore; and a legion of hypnotized mental patients re-enacting the 1965 Selma march for voting rights.
In fighting to keep the performances unprofessional, a competition in humility is clearly evident among the cast. When Graham Greene and Bernie Casey let it be known that they've taken the occasional acting class, they stick out like a redneck's manicured thumb (also occasionally on display). Following the examples of Lily Holly and Tyson, veteran performers Lee Masters, Diane Ladd, and Amy Redford accomplish the theatrical amnesia requested by their director. But, to their credit, Greene and Casey have their moments, too.
And so, a new genre is born. When future filmmakers coax a lack of acting knowledge out of their casts, it will be only described as "Holly-esque." As for When I Find The Ocean, it will be forever known as the prototype of this new movement.