Written and directed by Philip Harder based on the novel by Glasgow Phillips
Starring Natalia Dyer, Tate Donovan and Devon Bostick
Running time: 1 hour and 41 minutes

by Stacey Osbeck

Billy (Devon Bostick) lives in his father’s house on the grounds of the Mental Institution in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Proximity, Billy’s easy going nature and a clear lack of fencing seem to act as a welcome mat to the idle patients. They wander across his yard, up on his porch and even swing by to just say hi- like the cute blonde Virginia (Natalia Dyer of Stranger Things) he catches strolling through his flower bed. 

Billy’s dad (Tate Donovan) heads the asylum and Virginia is a newly admitted patient. Naturally, Billy taking her out on a date spells trouble, but with a nearby river, plenty of fishing poles and no fishing buddy, what’s a guy to do?

Later caught and confronted, Billy claims he had no clue she was a patient. With controlled anger, his father remarks that she’s a very troubled girl. You grew up here, after all this time you should be able to tell the difference between us and them. 

This is the underlying current of writer director Philip Harder’s film, Tuscaloosa. Set in 1972 Alabama, lines that exclude are continually drawn, accompanied by the nagging question: if you don’t like it, what exactly should you do about it? Which actions will incite change and which merely instigate? Themes that still resonate today.

As the story continues, that line extends beyond sane and mentally ill, further dividing black and white and even gay and straight, which leaves Billy in a bad position. His girlfriend resides at the insane asylum. His best friend since childhood is Nigel (Marchánt Davis), a black man who runs the local BBQ shack and long ago Billy’s mother ran away with a lesbian lover and perished in an “accident” shortly thereafter. 

Billy finds himself in a quandary because the two people closest to him get angry their lot isn’t treated fairly. However, when he questions further, he’s brushed off or ridiculed for not already knowing. Virginia scolds that living on the outside world he has no clue how the mentally ill are treated. When he asks her about it she lets it drop. Nigel and Billy have been friends since childhood and Billy regards him as his brother. But Nigel’s resentment over social inequalities has been stewing for a while. In a harsh moment, he tells Billy, in front of his new group of pals, he can’t keep pretending to be his friend anymore. This blindsides Billy who, instead of spitting back outrage, tries to understand further. Nigel only responds, you’re either part of the problem or part of the solution. The problem seems to be that Nigel himself doesn’t know what will bring about change, let alone sharing the ideas with his white friend. 

Brown vs. the Board of Education won a landmark victory for education equality in 1954. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus in 1955. The Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins spurred a movement to end segregated eating areas in 1960. Now it’s 1972. It seems all the major battles have been fought and won, but still so much feels the same. Everyone who wants to work for a better world appears to be in a sort of limbo, not sure which fights to pick or how to proceed. Still Billy isn’t just some white guy- he’s a friend who treats everyone like a person, not just in terms of race or gender, but also the patients at the asylum. So in that, Nigel not only has misplaced anger in Billy, but also a missed opportunity in discussing issues with someone who would actually be receptive. 

Nigel isn’t a bad guy. He’s just a flawed character. This movie is full of them, which lends to its intrigue. Billy, too, has his shortcomings and Virginia is definitely flawed. At one point Billy says she may be the sanest person he knows, but some nuances must have gotten lost between W. Glasgow Phillips’s novel of the same name to the script. At her worst, Virginia’s clearly crazy and at her best she’s somehow off. 

Even though no one’s sure which course to take, at times it’s still better to take action instead of sitting idly by. During night fishing, Virginia catches a turtle. Billy cuts the line to set it free, which spirals her into a state of anguish. Now it has to go through life suffering with a hook inside its throat or stomach. I’m, of course, upset for the turtle myself but what was Billy supposed to do, stick his fingers down the mouth of a snapping turtle where they might get chomped off? In a much later scene, while doing nothing, Billy nearly gets his finger bit clear off. In that moment, I realized maybe he should have tried to help the poor creature and engaged in a noble pursuit if, in the end, he was going to get bit anyway. 

Tension from inequality continues to bubble up, though, for the most part, the film has an easygoing summer vibe that you want to fall into. Gatherings at Nigel’s BBQ shack involve camaraderie, good food and passing a joint around. Billy ties every stitch of clothing he has together to make a rope ladder so his girlfriend can sneak out to see him. 

Theo Stanley’s cinematography kept quieter scenes engaging and visually interesting. His capturing of waterways were especially evocative with side banks punctuated with lolling yellow goldenrod and placid streams reflecting like mirrors

Tuscaloosa asks a lot of questions it only half answers. Usually I would say that’s a cop out or the writer lacked the craft to see it through. However, in this film, it worked. How to change societal divisions and unhealthy collective norms are questions that echo today. Leaving the audience to mull it over proved to be the most effective route. Especially when there are still no easy answers. 

In select theaters and on demand Friday, March 13.