Small town Northern Ontario is the setting for a series of stories told in small local bars in Cody Calahan's The Oak Room. The stories are layered with the return of Steve (R.J.Mitte) to his home town after three years to resolve some debts particularity one with Paul (Peter Outerbridge) who footed the entire bill for the former's father's funeral. Paul is closing up his bar on the night of a large snowstorm when a solitary figure comes down the steps sporting a ski mask. The visitor turns out to be Steve who announces that he's been away drifting for the last 3 years after dropping out of school. Instead of offering money to pay his debt, he will tell Paul a story. Since they have an hour to kill because the other guy he owes Stelley is on his way. The story is about the Oak Room and what happened there the Saturday before the unbeknownst to Paul will be of critical interest to him.
The narrative shifts to the Inside of The Oak Room in Elk Lake that looks a lot like the bar Paul and Steve are in right now. The guy is cleaning up behind the bar when a solitary figure comes down the stairs with a cut hand going to the bathroom before he can be stopped. The visitor is cold from that's night storm tires to warm up while the bartender tries to push him out. The pair warms to each other then the bartender tells the visitor a story about his youth. The scene shifts back to the original pair with Paul not impressed. He tells Steve that to continue he has to perk up the tale Goose The truth the tells his own yarn about a tale Steve father told him from the days with he was much younger.
Writer Peter Genoway whose play is the base of the film keeps the interwoven plot clear enough that the viewer is never lost in which tale they are currently in. There are common links to the various stories, a leather duffle bag, a watch, a raging snowstorm, or the similarities in the two main bars in the film. Director Calahan keeps the camera in close, allows the pauses to breathe, and the intensity to breathe as more clues to the complex puzzle are revealed. Steve gets back to the first part of his story just before the hour is up and as he comes to the end Paul realizes why what happened at The Oak Room was the information he needed to hear.
The Oak Room is a simmering plot-driven film that is layered but not difficult to follow. The subtle keys to the piece seem random but their totality guides the viewer through the woven piece. R.J.Mitte and Peter Outerbridge play well off each other as they spar as representatives of the values of their respective generations. Ari Millen provides a strong turn in two of the supporting stories. The exploration of the relationship between fathers and sons is tackled in two different venues. While Directory of Photography Jeff Maher takes advantage of the abundance of neon in a bar setting to give the two main set pieces a memorable hue. The parts seem at first to be unrelated but in the end, they all come together right as Selley walks down the stairs as midnight strikes.
*** Out of 4.
The Oak Room | Cody Calahan | Canada | 2020 | 90 Minutes.
Tags: Small Town Bar, Bad Debts, Driving Snow Storm, Kapuskasing, Kirkland Lake, Belleville, Pig Farm, Contact Killer, Funeral, Duffel Bag, Elk Lake Beer, Goose The Truth. Ashes, Tackle Box.
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