The Tillamook Treasure

Having lived in Oregon, I am familiar with the legend of the Tillamook gold. I also trekked over, up, down and around Neahkahnie Mountain several times. But I wasn't looking for treasure. It is part of the Oregon Coast Range and has some wonderful hiking trails. They wind through rain forest, along deep woods ridges, and along paths that lead to outstanding views of the Oregon Coast from up high. The coast highway, U.S. 101 runs through Oswald West State Park that encompasses the mountain. The town of Manzanita is below the most spectacular view that includes Nehalem Bay and Tillamook Bay in the distance.

The premise for this story could lead to the making of a good film. But, unfortunately, this one falls far short. The script jumps all over the place, and there's little coherence in the plot. The acting is fair by some of the cast, but Suzanne Doyon in the lead role as Julie is flat. Too many diversions and subplots are in this. The attempted humor with Richard Doyon and Mary Stein, playing Clyde and Billie Stahl, misfires throughout. The family problems and subplots only add to the incoherence of the plot and distractions from the story.

My four stars are for the scenery, the location shots, and the exploration of the legend that dates to the early 17th century. Unlike the implication of this movie, the treasure has never been found. That is, to anyone's knowledge. But some people believe it may have been found in the early 1800s by Thomas McKay. If he found it, he never let on that he did; but this outcome has considerable credence because McKay disappeared for a time after looking for the treasure, and then appeared years later in Oregon, independently wealthy.

At best, this is a fair movie about a search for treasure. But it gets sidetracked so often that it's hard to sit through. It seemed much longer than its 107 minutes. Only the most avid treasure enthusiasts may find this film of enough interest to sit through the whole thing.

The Legend Of Tillamook's Gold aka Tillamook Treasure tells the story of a young girl- the daughter of a struggling writer- who has moved to Oregon, from California, when her family suffers from money problems.

One day, she happens upon a gold coin, of Spanish origin, on the beach.

Which she learns more about after querying her marionette making grandfather, and his indigenous friend, Standing Elk.

Standing Elk tells her a tale about how his ancestors had witnessed the Spanish land on their shores, with a slave, whom they forced to bury a cache of treasure- before killing him, so that his ghost would watch over the treasure.

Until the chosen one comes to find it.

After going on a vision quest, and, with the help of the slave's lost soul in the form of an elk, she works to crack the code of the treasure's location.

Despite having competition from the local historian, and her partner- who constantly attempt to stifle her efforts.

Eventually, she figures it out.

But it almost gets her- and her father- killed.

And she is forced to decide between fame and fortune...or their lives.

The whole thing is rather low budget, with very mediocre acting.

But the main actress is cute, and her character is endearing.

It all has a less-exciting Goonies sort of vibe.

Though it must be noted that this is more of a family film, with an adventure angle, than it is an adventure film, with a family angle, like The Goonies.

It's certainly not the best treasure hunting movie ever made.

In fact, it's probably among the worst.

But the little twist at the end is clever and heart felt.

That being said, it likely won't be enjoyed by most.

But I enjoyed the message it puts out there, on a personal level.

So I'd say it's worth a watch.

4.5 out of 10.

"Tillamook Treasure" is a pleasure to view. The story is imaginative, well told and suspenseful, building as the plot unfolds. The characters are well thought out and the tension and eventual resolution of conflict within the subject family is satisfying and upbeat. The location is a sight to behold, the photography stunning at times. This particular section of the Oregon coast is particularly well-suited for a treasure hunt! The acting is well done. The direction is to the point, without a lot of diversions and side plots emphasized. The comic relief provided by Richard Doyon, one of the producers and writers of the film, is unexpected and funny! This is a terrific family film! It's presentation in high definition added to my enjoyment as well.

I'll give this movie one star for having moderately competent performances by some of the veteran supporting actors, and one star for having no glaring technical errors. Otherwise I cannot recommend any aspect of it. I watched it on cable because I grew up in Oregon and have fond memories of visiting Tillamook. What I got was a poorly written and edited clinker that resembles the unholy love child of Nancy Drew and Carlos Castaneda.

The first problem is that the producer cast his own daughter in the lead role, and while not particularly unpleasant on screen, she cannot act a lick. She is certainly not alone among the cast in this regard, but it's a huge liability in the main character.

Her line delivery is wooden and her emotional range is flat, but she does doggedly carry out her assignment with a modicum of dignity and consistency. The script and editing are another matter. This is one of those movies where you find yourself telling the story in your head because the movie apparently can't be bothered with fulfilling that chore. Each scene appears content to sketch out the bare outlines of its main idea without actually building a narrative. Then it ends abruptly and the movie wanders on to the next loosely connected event. Scenes often feel like they end a few actions or lines of dialog before they are finished, and the movie as a whole ends up playing like a Cliff's Notes version of itself.

Told in this manner, the story would probably only occupy about 30 minutes, but the movie falls into the amateur trap of trying to make up for a lack of substance with sheer quantity. The scenes may be short and light on dramatic content, but there are a lot of them. Some needlessly rehash previously covered material, some fulfill stock checklist purposes like Comic Relief Scene or Local Scenery Chewing Scene, but most of them do little to advance the story.

Many of the other reviews posted here praise the film for being family-friendly. If you are seeking wholesome, uplifting stories with a minimum of offensive content, there are many excellent choices that have strong narratives and talented performances. This is not one of them. Watch a Pixar film or the growing Narnia series instead. For those who claim that the girl in the leading role has great prospects ahead of her, I doubt she'll ever land a role in another project unless her father has a hand in making it. I wonder how many of these glowing reviews were written by people who were involved in making the film, or who come from the Tillamook area and are blinded by their enthusiasm for a homegrown product.

The people who made this movie meant well and tried hard. They did not succeed. Avoid it unless you can see it for free, and even then only watch it if you are looking for an instructive example of how not to make a movie, or if you enjoy giving bad movies the MST3K treatment I alluded to in my Summary line.

What a treat to go to a movie and enjoy every minute of it. The girl who plays Julie, the lead character, Suzanne Marie Doyon, was charming and such a wonderful actor. I am looking forward to more from this young lady. There is a scene with her older sister (Janine Doyon -- they must be sisters in real life as well as the movie - very cool) where they were sitting on the beach talking about the family's problems, was beautiful in all ways, very touching. It was among my favorites in the movie.

I like it that the movie shows a girl growing up and maturing without having to resort to the old story line of sex and drugs. Growing up certainly involves those things for many but this film touches on what is really important -- learning who you are in the world and discovering that you have the power to do important things. This is a real good moral for young girls everywhere.

I also loved the old Indian man, Standing Elk. He was so wonderful, funny and so respectful of Julie that he teaches her things by guiding her to the answers instead of preaching at her. He is so cute, too.

I would have voted 10 but I never have seem the perfect movie.