Search - The Oh in Ohio on DVD

Sex Has Come Between Us! (3.5 Stars)

Rudy Palma | NJ | 02/22/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

""The Oh in Ohio" is a self-assured slice of life that can touch viewers while disconcerting them all the while. Its comedic aspirations don't come to full fruition and its screenplay is a tad undercooked, but the actors overcome this with suave, easy charm.



Poking sly, understated fun at the overemphasis of sex in society, it is neither for the prudish nor for those who need slapstick to find humor. Sex may be the centrifugal force of the film, but this is no "40-Year Old Virgin," even though Paul Rudd plays similarly sympathetic characters in each.



Priscilla Chase, played by Parker Posey, is an ambitious, ditzy woman on the fast track to large-scale corporate success. However, to the dismay of her schoolteacher husband Jack, played by Rudd, she is the consummate cold fish. She may know the exact number of times they've had sex, but she has never had a single orgasm - ever - due to a "sexual dysfunction." Nor does she seem interested in doing so soon.



Things go up in smoke. She may have caused the problem, but Jack cannot get past the fact that the one woman he has not satisfied in bed is his wife of ten years. After moving to the garage and confiding in his friend and colleague Popovitch, played with cheeky delight by Keith David, he finally begins a full-fledged separation from Priscilla when she becomes overly addicted to a vaginal vibrator. He moves to the Manly Arms apartment complex - "Why settle for the mundane when you can be the king of your domain?" - and gives in to the advances of sophisticated 18-year old student Kristen, played perfectly by Mischa Barton, who lost her innocence long before he came along.



Priscilla is thus left to find her sexual identity. She pursues sex with random men, but she finds it unsatisfying. Sex with sex shop clerk Justine, played by Heather Graham, doesn't do the trick either. Wayne the Pool Guy, played with zest and warmth by Danny DeVito, however, puts an entirely new spin on things, awakening "parts of Cleveland" she never knew existed. In Wayne she finds



Liza Minelli is a hoot in her scene as an overzealous sex therapist, and Posey really brings it home when Jack finally gives Priscilla the satisfaction that was missing from their bedroom by merely calling her cell phone during, of all moments, an important board meeting. It's where the phone specifically is, of course, that matters.



"The Oh In Ohio" is equal parts raunchy and touching as it cloaks its characters in genuine humanity. Sex may come between them, but it's who they are, not what they are, that matters in the end."

When Sex is All that Matters...

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 01/27/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"THE OH IN OHIO reminds us that late night suggestive sitcoms are still around only now they are becoming full length feature films: 20 minutes worth of idea becomes stretched beyond the elastic point in this silly and oh-so-pink little bit of fluff. First time director Billy Kent and writer Sarah Bird with assistance from Kent somehow managed to not only get producers to pay attention to their project but also attracted some good actors to try to pull it off. 'Money makes the world go around...'



The plot is minimal: Parker Posey plays successful business woman Priscilla Chase who is known for her beauty, is married to a Biology teacher Jack Chase (Paul Rudd) who is on the skids from depression over the fact that his machismo is daily challenged by the fact the Priscilla has never had an orgasm. This fact somehow demeans Jack who has always bragged about his triumphs in bed but his career and self-esteem are in a pit due to Priscilla's sexual dysfunction. Priscilla attends a sex therapy session for women hosted by none other than Liza Minnelli where she is encouraged to get to know her vagina. At the suggestion from Priscilla's friend Sherri (Miranda Bailey) concurrently with Jack's friend Coach Popovich (Keith David) and the counsel of a therapist, Priscilla buys a vibrator and the story from then on is how Priscilla's new-found satisfaction alters her life, pushes Jack into the arms of a student (Mischa Barton), and on and on with Priscilla finding outlets for her discovery with a sex toys salesgirl, a pool guy (Danny DeVito). Everything about Priscilla and Jack is changed and for the rest of what's left of the standup comedy routine viewers will have to decide if they care to watch the DVD.



About the only thing that pulls this together is Parker Posey, unafraid to take on a script that asks her to demean herself in the process. This is definitely one of those films to perhaps rent when the video store shelves are empty. Grady Harp, January 07"