Joel David Moore’s newest directorial effort teeters on the edge of becoming great. The film, Youth in Oregon, never quite gets over the hump to reach that point, but it still manages to be quite good. To be fair the subject matter isn’t the easiest to make enjoyable, but Moore does an admirable job.
The film opens on the 80th birthday of Ray Engersol (Frank Langella). Ray is getting ready for the day and right off the bat we can see it takes quite a bit of medication and he’s also a bit grumpy. Ray has a reason to be grumpy, however. Two years prior he suffered a heart attack and he’s having to accept the fact that he can’t do the things he once could. As a result he and his wife Estelle (Mary Kay Place) are now living with their daughter Kate (Christina Applegate) and Kate’s husband Brian (Billy Crudup) and daughter Annie (Nicola Peltz). Ray isn’t the only one having trouble adjusting, this change is hard on everyone. To make matters worse they have to deal with Estelle’s alcoholism and Annie’s being a teenager.
That evening the family goes out to a dinner to celebrate Ray’s birthday. The night starts off pretty well. The entire family is there and seems to be having a good time, but then Ray stands up to give an announcement. With the family’s full attention, Ray tells them he has plans to go to Oregon so he can be legally euthanized. This of course comes as a great shock and the family argues with him, telling him that it’s crazy and no doctor will approve it because he’s not dying. What Ray doesn’t tell them is that earlier that day when he visited his doctor he was informed he needed to have another surgery and without the outcome isn’t good. Ray is tired of operations, he’s tired of being in pain and he just doesn’t want to live anymore.
The family tries to reason with Ray but he already has his mind made up. He has plans for a driver to pick up in a couple of days and drive him to Oregon and that’s that. Kate is able to convince him to cancel the driver by agreeing to take him, but that plan quickly comes crashing down when Annie gets in trouble at school for sending inappropriate pictures to her jock boyfriend who then shares them with his friends. This is when Brian steps up to the plate and decides to drive Ray, along with Estelle, from New York to Oregon.
Brian’s plan is that after a few days Ray will realize the whole idea is silly and they’ll turn back and go home, but after a few days on the road he realizes that’s not the case. Ray is committed to doing this and he won’t let anything stop him from getting to Oregon.
Youth in Oregon has a lot in common with other indie road movies from recent years and I think is trying to have that same type of success. Little Miss Sunshine immediately comes to mind. A seemingly normal family, but not without their fair share of dysfunction heads out on a cross country trip with a grumpy grandpa. Along the way they have some laughs, but also some heartbreak. In the laugh category Youth in Oregon works pretty well. I found myself laughing quite a bit, which is impressive giving the film is dealing with a fairly grim premise. There are some really good moments though, including sequence in which Brian unknowingly takes some pills that make him high as a kite and begins to freak out while driving.
Where the film falls a little short is in the heart category and that’s not to say the film is lacking heart, but there’s just not enough. The last third of the film packs a fairly solid emotional punch and it comes from unexpected places which is nice, but there’s some missed opportunities. A lot of the characters angry and quite mean throughout the film, particularly Ray who is especially rough on Brian. The two have a brief moment at a bird sanctuary, but I would have liked to see some really bonding between them. Crudup and Langella are both terrific actors that I think could have done something really special together that really could have elevated the film.
The standout cast isn’t fully utilized but still manages to be really good. I liked Crudup a lot in this and he’s really started to having this distinguished look to him. He’s older and it shows, but he certainly doesn’t look bad. I just always have this vision of Russell Hammond in my head when I think of Crudup so its been interesting to see him morph in recent years. Still as great as ever though.
In a much smaller role is Josh Lucas as Ray’s son Danny. They pick up Danny on the way to Oregon and he joins them for the rest of the journey. Lucas, who I’m shocked has never become a bigger star, steals the show from the moment he’s introduced. Danny and Ray haven’t spoken in years, in large part due to Danny’s dropping out of medical school, so they have a lot of friction at the start but they do share some of that heart and emotion that the rest of the film could have used.
Youth in Oregon is a solid watch and I would for sure recommend it. There are some missteps along the way, but it’s never not entertaining and features a wonderful cast.
Youth in Oregon is now available on DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
