Mighty Oak

Exciting, enveloping and the charisma of Tommy Ragen in a very good movie.

I adore this beautiful film that embraced SO many emotions. Despite my previous unfamiliarity with these actors, I found the cast to be exceptional! The music & locations strongly influenced my appreciation as well. My knowledge of reincarnation was tastefully represented. From a legal standpoint there was one irregularity in that the BellyUp in Solana Beach serves alcohol & therefore disallows minors...BUT IT'S JUST A MOVIE! Overall I found this to be family friendly for 13 year olds & older with an opportunity for some important conversations. Life need not be a painful struggle, but in fact it often is! I actually cried it was so touching..

Rarely does a movie recieve a 10 by me, but I watched this with my girlfriend, and son and we were blown away. Its rare a film has all three rules of a 10/10 combined well within it: Love story, Plot, and lastly but most important, quality ending.

The filming by director Sean McNamara was well done. Pay close attention to the crash scene. They did a fantastic job.

There was also some great shots of Ocean Beach, California.

Now I must say off-the-bat that a few people might find the subject matter a bit different. The idea that a kid could be the reincarnation of someone's brother is a bit farfetched however I see what the writer was trying to do. I want to tip my hat to Tommy Ragen (Oak Scoggins). He had to deal with multiple emotions throughout the movie. When he lashed out at one point during the film, I can totally understand that.

If you really think about it Oak had to deal with a lot. In his life, he had a depressed music director, a sick mother, no father figure, and bullying at school. That's a lot to take on as a 10-year-old who only wanted to play music. Thankfully, over time he did develop some great friendships with a group of musicians and kids at school that kept him content.

The music was great and Oak can really play the guitar.

Final thoughts

Overall, I feel that 'Mighty Oak' is one to watch. You will appreciate the young talent in this film. Perhaps you will learn a) how people cope with loss, b) when to step in, c) the importance of listening to one another, or maybe d) how as a unit we can all help one another.

I guess I'll applaud the effort, but I just can't pretend this is a good movie. It smells like they found a kid who could play guitar and sing and built a movie around him. Almost no interaction smells genuine or is believable. So many things provoke groans of disbelief. Opportunities to go deeper, by either cast or director, flash by unexplored. Maybe this movie is for 6 year olds, but even if that's the case, why not make a GOOD movie for them?

Don't waste your time.