Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with the good word on two flicks from South By. I return for the last 2 days of the festival, just in time for SLITHER and a day of catch-up movies. Can't wait to be back. ShoWest is weirding me out... Anyway, OH IN OHIO looks like a lot of fun. Can't wait to give it a watch. Here's Plain Jane!!!
THE OH IN OHIO
This was without question the best film I’ve seen so far at SXSW. Cleveland, Ohio, never looked so beautiful as it does in this movie and the featured actors (Parker Posey, Paul Rudd, Danny DeVito, Heather Graham, Liza Minnelli, and Mischa Barton) are really doing some of their best work.
The film, directed by Billy Kent, starts as a focus on a married couple, Jack and Priscilla (Posey and Rudd), who would have a great marriage… except for the fact that Priscilla has never had an orgasm. This fact thoroughly frustrates Jack, while Priscilla seems to have no problem with it. Upon the purchase of a vibrator, their marriage falls apart and the movie really splits into two different plotlines: Priscilla’s discovery of herself and Rudd’s finding self-confidence again through an affair with one of his students (Barton).
Posey and Rudd easily carry the film, both of them playing roles different than their usual. They’re terrific and really make the movie. Barton plays her role in a remarkably fresh way, which was really unexpected. (I’ve never actually seen the O.C., but it’s easy to just make assumptions.) DeVito steals the show whenever he’s in the shot.
This film is hilarious- and in all the appropriate places. It also deals with both female and male sexuality in a new way- leaning more towards the relationship factor.
The best part about this movie is the ending. It would have been so easy to use the Hollywood copout ending, and they didn’t. However, while the ending is left open, you still leave feeling satisfied. Both women and men in the audience were actually thanking Kent for making the movie in the Q&A following the screening. Doesn’t get much better than that.
PUNK LIKE ME
Not nearly as entertaining as AIR GUITAR NATION, PUNK LIKE ME follows Rich Wilkes as he fulfills his teenage dreams of being a punk rocker by lying his way onto the Warped Tour by pretending to be a reporter for Rolling Stone. Along for the ride are his faux band (Carne Asada, the world’s first punk rock mariachi band), his wife, his infant daughter, and his in-laws.
PUNK LIKE ME was fun to watch, sure. But it really failed to grab me like AIR GUITAR NATION did. It lacked that electricity and confidence. However, PUNK was great to watch in that the band members are so easy to identify with. Who wouldn’t love to just pack up and go on a punk rock tour? There’s nothing weird about these men- they’re just average guys trying to grab a last chance to live out a dream. And it’s definitely worth watching to see them try.
- Plain Jane
