DVD
Review | Amy's O
Written by: Kage
Alan
Finally a movie written, produced and directed by a
woman ABOUT a woman! And hey, the same woman even has the
starring role. How about that? "Sex and the
City" had a corner on the market regarding the intricacies of
women's relationships until "Amy's O", which actually stands
for "Amy's Orgasm". It's not like they could get away
with using the word "orgasm" in the title, but it would have
been amusing to see them try.
Twenty-nine year old Ivy League-educated Jewish born Amy Mandell
(Julie
Davis) is sitting on top of the world. After a brief weekend
fling many
years back, she was inspired to write a self-help book about how women
absolutely do not need the love of a man in their life to feel
complete. Now
that the book has hit the stores, Amy is in constant demand for
in-store
appearances, signings and the radio and TV talk show circuit all
courtesy of
her publicist, Janet (Caroline Aaron, "Joe Dirt"). A
number of women love
her, some don't and the men aren't particularly happy with her
message. Big
surprise, huh?
Despite her public persona, Amy isn't exactly as happy as everybody
thinks
she is. In order to sort out her feelings, she goes to a
Catholic
confessional on a regular basis and unloads on the young priest (Jeff
Cesario, "Kiss of a Stranger") there. Why?
Because it's free and anonymous.
In any case, things heat up when shock jock radio personality
Matthew Starr
(Nick Chinlund, "Training Day") attempts to find out if Amy
truly believes
everything she writes about by asking her out. Is it possible
for their
relationship to be a success story or will they go down the road of
mistakes
that everybody else in the world seems to?
What makes "Amy's O" so enjoyable is that nothing is taboo.
Instead of a man
trying to write about a woman, a woman is trying to reach an audience
of men
and women and show them how things really are. Not only are
motivations
touched upon as well as ego and overall gender differences, but so is
masturbation, orgasm, fantasizing and mutual sexual satisfaction.
While the
film never crosses the line of becoming pornography, it certainly
presents
plenty of food for thought and does so without portraying men as
complete
sphincter muscles, which is the stereotype. The film is in solid
hands with
Julie Davis at the helm.
Sundance has released "Amy's O" in a very solid looking
Widescreen transfer.
Colors are sharp and the audio is top notch. This isn't a
special effects
film, so it's important that the dialogue be front and center, which
it is in
spite of some rather interesting looping which is touched upon in the
commentary. Extras include a preview, a 3-minute interview with
Julie Davis
titled "Afterthoughts", 4 ½ minutes of deleted scenes that
include an
alternate ending, a 2-minute snapshot photo diary from the Sundance
Festival,
a preview for another title and a commentary with Julie Davis, actress
Caroline Aaron and co-producer Don Bloomfield. As in "All
Over The Guy",
Julie makes the most of her commentary here while Caroline and Don
(who joins in roughly twenty minutes in) wonderfully compliment her
and the information that's shared.
I was surprised and delighted when this DVD arrived in my mailbox.
The
Sundance Channel is one of my favorites and they seem to know how to
treat
directors and actors, so it's a pleasure to have the opportunity to
review
some of their work. I've also enjoyed some of Julie's other
efforts,
especially "All Over The Guy" and I look forward to seeing
what else she does
in the future. "Amy's O" leaves us on a positive note
and one that doesn't
cheat us in doing so. It reminds us that we're all human, we're
all going to
make mistakes and that we're better for them. What better way to
end a film
than with the truth? Cheers!
Film Rating:
B+
DVD Special Features: B+
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