The Oh in Ohio

last updated 8 January 2015

The Oh in Ohio is 'œthat rare American sex comedy that doesn't involve teenagers making love to a pastry,' said Nathan Lee in The New York Times. This naughty little indie film homes in on the sexual dysfunction of Priscilla Chase, a Cleveland PR woman who has never had an orgasm. This devastates her husband, Jack, who's so demoralized by his inability to give her a peak experience that he takes up drinking and beds a teenager. When Priscilla's dry spell ends with an introduction to a vibrator by a hot lesbian sex-shop clerk, she begins a sexual awakening that ends on a water slide with Wayne the pool guy. The film is packed with 'œunexpected pleasures, not least the casting of Liza Minnelli as a masturbation guru.' Director Billy Kent leans on his strong cast to get through the film's rough spots, said Joe Leydon in Variety. Danny DeVito is a 'œsurprisingly sweet' Wayne, a role another actor might have 'œoverplayed unattractively.' His performance gives the film a steady heartbeat. Parker Posey as Priscilla 'œgracefully maneuvers a tricky transition of her own,' metamorphosing from 'œuptight denial to lusty excess to serene self-confidence.' She and Paul Rudd, who plays Jack, are so deliciously inventive that it's sad when they're stranded in the final act with unresolved issues, said Chuck Wilson in the LA Weekly. The filmmakers evidently lost their nerve when it came time to write the sort of 'œintimate, revealing conversation that can make a sex toy unnecessary.'

Rating: Unrated