The Oh in Ohio

A better title would be The Aw in Awful for filmmaker Billy Kent's feeble, curiously distasteful little comedy about a couple's breakup. The duo in question are a burned-out Cleveland high-school biology teacher and his hard-driving ad executive wife. Although they might seem happy to outsiders, he harbors a gnawing resentment over the fact that she's never experienced an orgasm (the “oh” of the title) during lovemaking. And to make matters worse, she not only doesn't care, but also believes that sex is overrated. The pair's growing incompatibility leads them down decidedly different paths: he succumbs to the attractions of an older-than-her-years student, while she becomes addicted to vibrators and then takes up with a guy who proves to be her real soulmate—a chubby, bald, widowed swimming-pool mogul. Though the two male leads—Paul Rudd and Danny DeVito—are reasonably engaging, the focus is on Parker Posey as the wife, and while she's a talented actress, her icy demeanor and smug self-absorption here make it impossible to muster much sympathy for her character. And the vibrator business is far more unseemly than funny—especially in a misconceived episode reminiscent of Meg Ryan's famous scene in When Harry Met Sally. Another independent film that's actually worse than the formulaic Hollywood comedies it's supposed to improve on, The Oh in Ohio is not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include five deleted/extended scenes (9 min.), an alternate opening (4 min.), and an alternate ending (2 min.). Bottom line: an unremarkable extras package for a disappointing comedy.] (F. Swietek)