‘Sarah’s Oil’ Review: A New Chapter for Zachary Levi?
Usually, when I’m bringing a faith-based indie to everyone’s attention, it’s from Angel Studios, but they’re not the only game in town. You can still find heartfelt stories outside of their sphere, although in either case, you have to take what you can get.
Sarah’s Oil looked like it had enough potential to earn my time, and maybe yours, with Zachary Levi out front in the film and in its marketing, trying to get his career back on the right track. Starting with him, there is stuff to recommend, but there might not be enough.
The film is a historical biopic about the true story of Sarah Rector (played for the most part by Naya Desir-Johnson), America’s first Black female millionaire, who was suddenly flush with cash after “oceans” of American crude were found under her family’s land in Oklahoma. She was about 10 and it was the 1910s, before there were 50 states, and still lots of unincorporated open range on the frontier to vie for.
Naturally, a big oil baron (Garret Dillahunt) wants to take Sarah’s land out from under her and her family once the black gold is found underneath. He stops at nothing to try and get it. Killing kids is not beneath the guy, so Sarah and her family know her life is in danger, but keeping the land is a must at any cost.
Their only hope is the kind and altruistic prospector from Texas, Bert (Levi), and his Mexican muchacho (Mel Rodriguez), who are looking to strike it rich. Although the duo have had little success in the past, they are determined to help little prodigy Sarah extract the oil from the ground and outwit the system. In return, without meaning to, the faith, courage, and trust of the young girl also help change Bert’s ambivalent heart, like you’ve seen many times before in this sort of picture.
Again, it’s based on a true story and real people, but that doesn’t mean the film abstains from playing fast and loose with the facts. For example, Levi’s character is not a real person that Rector knew; he is actually inspired by a number of different people she was surrounded by in her life. Prospectors known as wildcatters who dug and searched for crude in unproven and unfeasible places were common in Oklahoma at the time.
So were predatory magnates, and I’m sure the film’s depiction of events is as accurate to the period as possible, but I have my doubts. I couldn’t get over a sense of woke messaging, even if they were trying to walk a fine line. Every oil magnate is a stereotypical robber baron – irredeemable, murderous, racist, and conniving. They and their hired goons have no pity; they shoot everyone and everything, especially Creek Indian children, the one Mexican guy, and even a dog.
This is played straight, but it turns hokey in certain scenes. Of course, they have to have a happy ending, so the dog doesn’t actually die. The Mexican still does, but killing that dog is too far, even if the family pet was also fictional and only thrown in for dramatic effect. Director Cyrus Nowrestah doesn’t flinch away from the heavier moments, so Sarah’s Oil doesn’t talk down to its viewers completely. However, it’s tame by his standards.
If we are talking ‘unflinching,’ I go back to his 2009 feature, The Stoning of Soraya M. Another true story, it told the harrowing account of a woman who was accused of adultery and buried up to her waist for an old-fashioned execution by stoning in the Middle East. Unless you heard or saw ads for it in the right places, you probably didn’t know the film existed. It had a limited release, and once it made it to DVD, it was quickly forgotten. I saw it back then, and Nowrestah pulled no punches. It’s a tough watch.
In contrast, Sarah’s Oil was cliche and shallow in its portrayal of Jim Crow. For instance, when Sarah meets Bert for the first time, he shows a kind gesture when all she wants is a glass of lemonade and the stuffy, one dimensional lady behind the counter won’t serve her. Later, when Bert and Sarah are officially business partners on a handshake, they are driving and he apologizes for his habit of using the word “colored.” This scene feels more contrived when the NAACP is represented in this film, and we all know what the “C” stands for.
The faith elements aren’t much deeper. They jangle the keys at the Bible, and doing good, sort of like Superman, but Scripture and church attendance aren’t visible centers of anyone’s life in this. The climate is instead one of social justice and effecting change by civil action. One of the agents of change is an unintimidated woman who is the first female elected to her office, and she is quick to make that clear to everybody, especially Bert.
I could go on but all you need to understand is that this is produced by Amazon-MGM and a handful of other companies with ties to Lionsgate. It’s the cookie-cutter, assembly line version of “based on a true story” with a bare minimum when it comes to faith and morals. While there are poignant moments, you aren’t missing much. Zachary Levi is good, all things considered, but his arcs in the Shazam movies were more layered and satisfying.
NEXT: ‘Christy’ Review – A Million Dollar Baby Adjusting For Inflation
Sarah’s Oil
PROS
- Zachary Levi is pretty good
- Sonequa Martin-Green is also fine, better than Kurtzman Trek led me to believe
- It is still an inspiring story and okay viewing for families
CONS
- Shaky camera work took me out of the experience
- Leans into usual white-man-bad tropes
- Shallow, bare minimum examples of faith-centered hearts and minds
