“The OH in Ohio” is one of those films with a premise that could go either way. Unfortunately, except for some amusing moments, it basically goes down. Which brings us back to the premise. Indie film go-to girl Parker Posey is a pretty but sexually frustrated wife, and Paul Rudd is her husband, a guy who takes his wife’s lack of climax very personally. Actually, that’s not just the premise; it comprises the entire plot.
The couple breaks up in a rather dull manner, and work through their respective problems in expected, predictable ways. There is some diverting quirkiness here and there, but the whole thing is essentially flimsy, with very little to offer. This is a lazy movie, satisfied with the fact its title implies the word orgasm and foolishly assured such a “shocking” element is sufficiently interesting. I assure you, it is not.
The one way in which “The OH in Ohio” distinguishes itself is it offers one of the least plausible romantic interests in the history of cinema as Posey’s sexual rescuer: Danny DeVito. The man is funny and talented, but let’s be reasonable. The sheer ridiculousness of them as a couple is meant to pass for character development, but simply presenting an unusual pair is insufficient. You have to write things for them to say and do.
This extremely short flick is ultimately as unsatisfying as the joyless intercourse it depicts. Short on plot, short on character development, it’s just a slight blueprint with the stock elements of an edgy independent film – potentially audacious plot, unlikely characters, and of course Parker Posey. In the end, however, there is no payoff and, for a movie about sex, no heat whatsoever.
“The OH in Ohio” is currently available to rent. You probably weren’t going to anyway, but I’d advise against it.
Director Richard Linklater makes good use of the technique of animating over real footage in “A Scanner Darkly.” The science fiction thriller material is perfectly suited for the trippy effect created when the sketchy-looking computer animation is laid over the real actors, who include Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Woody Harrelson and Robert Downey, Jr.
As I always say, Robert Downey, Jr. improves whatever he is in, and this is no exception. Harrelson and Ryder round out the cast as drug buddies of Keanu Reeves, whose vapid acting style is improved when animated.
The film, based on a novel of the same title by Phillip K. Dick, concerns the psychological deterioration of Reeves’ character as he falls further under the spell of Substance D, a drug to which, in the near future dystopia depicted, huge numbers of the population are addicted.
Reeves is not just an addict, he is also an undercover agent trying to bust a drug ring. Like everyone in the drug enforcement agency for which he works, he wears a suit that completely masks his identity by morphing him into different people every second. This conceit is beautifully realized by the animation. It is only appropriate to transform the characters in a film about the paranoid transformation wreaked by drug addiction, surveillance and a loss of identity.
“Waking Life,” Linklater’s 2001 film which employed this technique, also used the animation to literalize and express the philosophical concepts discussed by the characters. His success with the medium makes that commercial for investment brokers or whatever it is, which also animates over film, even more annoying. For Linklater, it is not just an arbitrary trick to make the movie look cool; it is a legitimate and vital choice of expression. The results are a haunting, funny science fiction excursion into a beautifully, harrowingly distorted reality.
“A Scanner Darkly” is currently available to rent.
Contact Asia Frey at afrey@lagniappemobile.com.
Archives
The Reel World
