The Iron Orchard is based on Tom Pendleton’s acclaimed historical fiction novel about the Texas oil Industry. The story follows the ups and downs of the life of Jim McNeely (Lane Garrison) over a period of 20 years as he tries to claim his own piece of the Texas oil empire. The film opens in Fort Worth, Texas in 1939, where Jim McNeely (Lane Garrison) is told by the wealthy parents of the girl he loves, Mazie Wales (Hassie Harrison), that he isn’t good enough for their daughter—Jim had come from a broken family, was bullied at school when he was younger, and didn’t have a college education. So, with a chip on his shoulder and looking for a fresh start, Jim decides to pack up and head to Midland County. He walks up to the Kent Oil office and asks for a job. He knows nothing about the oil business and must start at the bottom doing the grunt work. He is assigned to the connection gang, the folks responsible for doing the oil field plumbing. Some of Jim’s new co-workers aren’t happy to see his fresh face, and give him a tough time. But Jim decides he isn’t going to let the bullies win again and immediately stands up for himself. His boss, Cap Bruner (Gregory Kelly), is also mean one, making unreasonable demands and treating the workers like garbage. Jim starts defying Cap’s orders, seeking fairer treatment of the workers.

During his time at Kent Oil, Jim meets and falls for married woman Lee Montgomery (Ali Cobrin). At the same time, Jim learns the business and eventually decides to get a larger piece of the pie himself. Geologist Barry Wakely (Allan McLeod) gives him a tip about an untapped oil field that may be available for lease, and he decides to give it a go. Jim quickly finds himself a success, but he’s had a chip on his shoulder all his life. Now that he’s successful, he wants to return to Fort Worth to prove himself to all those naysayers from his past, especially Mazie’s parents, who didn’t think that he was good enough to marry their daughter (though now they may be signing a different tune!). However, as they say, pride goes before the fall. No amount of success will ever be good enough for Jim, and this will ultimately be his downfall. The title of the film refers to Jim’s white whale, a regretful, missed opportunity that constantly haunts him throughout his life. Despite his success, this Iron Orchard always sits in his mind and eats away at him. Even though he has more money that he could spend, he could have had tenfold if he had just made a key different choice in life.

I have not read the original novel, so I can’t speak to how faithful this adaptation is. The film starts off as this inspirational story of a man who goes from having nothing to building a successful oil empire. However, it then takes a much darker turn as the story becomes more of a cautionary tale of greed and pride. I went from rooting for Jim Neely to finding him despicable as he allows avarice and pride to ruin all of the important relationships in his life. I am not quite sure how I feel about this turn in the story. In one way, I have to give the film credit for making me care about a character before taking that all away, but on the flip side, I was disappointed by this rollercoaster of emotions. Either way, one thing that felt completely unearned was the film’s abrupt, ridiculous and somewhat confusing ending (which is apparently different from the novel). I was hoping that the disc’s audio commentary would shed some light on this ending, but unfortunately, it didn’t convince me it was the right way to go.

That said, there are still a lot of things to like about the film. The film transports the viewer back in time 80 years, capturing the era and the tough and dangerous work involved in the Texas oil business (which is quite evident when comparing the film to some home movie footage that is shown during the credits). There are some exciting, action-packed moments, but also some fun humorous moments, such as when Jim pretends to enjoy chewing tobacco in order to convince Old Man Coker (Gil Prather) to let him lease his land, only to have his spit constantly end up all over Coker. The scoring of the film is also really well done. As we initially see Jim toiling away in the oil fields, there is some light stringed country music, and as he begins to build his empire and strike it rich, the score switches to faster, louder big band music.

Santa Rita Film Co.’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds good. The picture is clean, shows a lot of detail, and really showcases the beautiful scenery of West Texas and the massive oil infrastructure. While there aren’t any huge effects in this film (in the commentary, the filmmakers describe some of the changes they made to the novel to avoid budget-prohibitive explosions), the audio track provides clear dialogue and a generally immersive ambiance. It also showcases the film’s evolving score. One issue I did have with the disc was with the subtitles—I tried two different Blu-ray players and neither seemed to be able to handle the subtitles, which were constantly either cutting out, or getting stuck on the screen instead of displaying the next line of dialogue.

The Blu-ray release comes packed in standard HD keepcase without a slipcover. While a couldn’t find any official information to confirm this, looking at the back of the disc, it appears that it may be a BD-R disc and not a standard pressed disc. The Blu-ray bonus material includes a director/actor commentary track.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:51:33)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

• Feature Commentary (1:51:33)
  Director/co-screenwriter Ty Roberts and star Lane Garrison (“Jim McNeely”) provide an entertaining commentary throughout the film. They share a lot of interesting behind-the-scenes production stories, they talk about the cast and the sets, and discuss which scenes remain faithful to the novel, and where the film differs from the book.

Final Thoughts:

I had mixed feelings about this movie—I was conflicted by the change the film’s protagonist undergoes over the course of the film, and I was not a fan of the ending. I don’t see myself re-watching the film any time soon. However, based on the film’s commentary, I think fans of the novel will be quite pleased with this adaptation, and the film’s commentary. The filmmakers were truly passionate about this project and it shows in the work. The movie looks and sounds great, and the disc includes an interesting audio commentary. Those interested in a drama set around the early 20th century Texas oil industry may opt for a rental instead of a blind buy. And those who wish to purchase may be better off going the digital route—the iTunes version includes the same audio commentary bonus material, and may not have the same subtitle issues that I experienced with the disc.