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kevwells
Reviews
The Oh in Ohio (2006)
Good dirty fun.....
Saw "Oh" last week. The movie is mostly fun, silly at times, warmhearted, and surprisingly poignant in places. The scenes between Posey and Devito made the movie worth seeing. The point of sex--is after all--to serve as some sort of connection at the end of the day--or at least that is what the writer and director seem to be saying. That message is the sort of obvious one. What makes this film stand apart is the director's presentation of sex as just fun sometimes as well without having to feel "dirty" To be fair, the movie is uneven. The marriage of Posey and Rudd seems unrealistic. How could such a self proclaimed stud marry such an ice queen in the first place? Further, how does such a jerk become a biology teacher---a selfless profession if ever there was one. Ultimately, not much there to suggest a coherence. His character felt like a set of convenient levers, not a person. Also, his distinctly crude manner took away from the believability of a relationship between he and Posey. She wears a scarf around her neck and wears suits; he drives a rusted Volvo and looks homeless most of the time. I don't think so.
Posey, however, hit it on the head with a great performance with just the right nuance in both her awkwardness about her frigidity, and the awakened sexual beast. Devito was grand and more human, less cartoonish than in most of his roles. This film made you believe a seriously short, fat, old guy had a realistic shot at romance with a tall, beautiful younger woman.
Barton was fine--nothing to write home about. Her part was perhaps the most predictable of all. Fortunately, she played a HS student and as such, the utter lack of emotional and spiritual development can be attributed to her character's age.
I viewed the film with an audience that was made up largely of women--mid-30s to mid-50s. The laughs were present from that crowd and heartfelt. The adventures with vibrator were appreciated and there were many knowing chuckles along those lines.
One standing ovation to Keith David who played "coach", Rudd's straight man/foil. His poolside scene talking about his wife's vibe was an absolute treasure of weird guy bonding. Brilliant. Heather Graham's cameo was great fun as well.
See it---if for no other reason than supporting an Indy film that isn't too self-conscious for it's own good.