Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic and this film is available with audio description.

Nayadse Renee-Johnson stars. I know, this is hard for people to hear, but believe it or not, the young actress who plays Sara rector in the biopic about her life as a youth is actually, I’m not kidding, starring the little girl that plays Sara. Mind blown. At least three people at Kingdom and Amazon/MGM just had their heads explode. I know this, because despite being an inspirational true story of an 11-year old black girl in Oklahoma fighting racism to become a millionaire supposedly stars Zachary Levi. Levi, of course, being the most famous eleven year old black girl of his generation. Levi, who seems incapable of self awareness, has allowed himself to have a top billing on a film that would amplify his white savior character even more. After all, the true story of Sara rector pales in comparison to the blistering, heartfelt, never before told true story of Bert. He’s a white guy in the early turn of the century who is a bit opportunist, hates being lumped in with racists, and is perplexed as to what the right thing to do actually is.

Bert, who appears in every history book known to man, of course rose to prominence more in the teens and twenties, inventing many things we still use today, like tables, chairs, the microwave, horses, the iPhone, and of course whatever the hell 67 is. No? he didn’t? Oh, that’s right, he doesn’t fucking exist. Levi has admitted there isn’t a Bert, and he’s taken from an amalgamation of people who helped Sara along the way. To not have the presence of mind to know the story isn’t yours, and still demand to take the top billing is audacious. Things like this make it hard to like Levi, who I’ve been a fan of, despite us not aligning on certain political trends. but come on, your role screams white savior, and he’s not even a real person.

The even more frustrating thing is, Levi is actually really good in this. Yeah. His salt of the earth Bert is a welcome departure from his whole ‘they couldn’t get John Krasinski so they cast me” vibe. He shows decent range, growing maturity, and offers a solid supporting rock for Sara. But it still is not his film.

Sara’s Oil is a powerful, at times, film about a young black girl just after the turn of the century that has to put up one hell of a fight to keep her land, which she believes has oil on it.Of course, this being a biopic, she’ll be proven right. It can feel a bit sappy, as it tries to figure out just how much brutal realism it wants to depict with the pervasive racism of the time. People die, and there’s a scary presence in the film that seems to loom over Sara trying to steal what’s hers.

As Levi represents an amalgamation of people, I kind of wonder what a more faithful adaptation would have looked like if more people were on Sara’s side, or is it better that she is easier victimized here? The film pushes boundaries a little, but really hovers in a mostly PG-inspirational, but occasionally PG-13 level racism that can be hard to watch. Harder now that we seem to be teaching people shit like this didn’t happen.

The film does aim for a happy ending, and doesn’t really go for the true story. While Sara does really hit it big, sadly she did so before the Great Depression, and the real Sara suffered financial losses like so many others.

Levi may want to be the lead, but he simply is not. it’s gross to see his name listed at the top, as he is not playing Sara, but to be fair, it is also a really solid performance from him, and he oddly is the standout as the film caters in his direction.

I have some reservations and mixed feelings, but my overall gut instinct is this film does more good than harm, and there are more reasons to watch than not.

It may not have struck gold, but Sara’s Oil is good enough to warrant your attention, and features some wonderful performances.

Fresh: 7.1/10