Amy's O - Finalmente l'amore

I thought this movie reminded me of a lot of young women I know who are insecure about love, men, their bodies, their minds, even though they may be bright and attractive. It is a breath of fresh air to see a young woman poke fun of the way that we tend to over analyze things such as sex, the long awaited "phone call the day after," over thinking everything, and who or what holds the right answers to all of our questions about love, life, and relationships.

I am sure if you polled intelligent, 20 something female college grads with good heads on their shoulders, they would find this movie amusing. Nice to see a movie that is not about the perfect in every-way girl finding the perfect in every-way prince charming.

In the context of grand cinema, "Amy's Orgasm" is a zit. However, in the context of romcom fare, this flick is somewhere around the middle of a very large heap. A naive but lively Niagara of prattling about the usual stock love vs sex stuff we've all seen before, "Amy's O" does little to distinguish itself and will probably play best with teen females at sleep-overs because of the in-your-face vulgarities, sexual emphasis, and obvious girl power bent. Passable stuff for the public at large, "Amy's O" is a marginal though worthy effort for a relatively young auteur who apparently put this flick together almost single handedly. (C)

Cute, slightly offbeat romantic comedy is funny and I recognize some of the lead's attitudes and actions from girls I've known, so it kind of helps me figure out why they do some of the things they do, and I liked the way they would move from what was happening to what she was hearing and imagining, as when a guy's comments about having stayed with an ex for the good sex translating in her mind to a diatribe about her being fat. Movie has a rather cynical view towards self-help pop psychology books, which I think is justified. The big speech near the end of pretty stupid, the sort of unrealistic thing you see in Hollywood movies all the time. Not successful on all levels, and if I felt like it I could pick apart this or that, but overall it just works and is quite entertaining.

I ran into this movie late one night on the Independent Film Channel on satellite. I was flipping channels and it grabbed me. Light hearted, tongue in cheek sort of campy. Let the concerns of the day go and just lean back for a fun ride. Different point of view on relationships. Don't worry to much about anything. Good looking people. No violence. Fun ending. If you're not looking to analyze everything in a movie and figure it all out, this one will just entertain. That's what I'm looking for a lot of the time. Lean back and have fun.

There are many engaging and titillating sequences in this low-budget production that is written, stars, is directed by, and co-produced by Julie Davis. But, it is as uneven and ultimately frustrating as any comedy you've ever rooted for to succeed.

Since many other reviewers have done a thorough job of identifying and critiquing the maddeningly confusing inconsistencies of this subversively anti-feminist treatise masquerading as a stereotyped pro-feminist fictionalized autobiography that rails against society's stereotypes only to find that some stereotypes are stereotypes because they are true, I will merely add that I heard deafening echoes of past sellouts such as ABC's debacle called "The Great American Beauty Contest" and Jane Fonda's character "admitting" that all women only go to college to find husbands in the movie "Tall Story." [That was all just one sentence, folks!]

What makes the above one-sentence summary such a shame is that writer Davis did seem to have some interesting ideas to convey and actor Davis conveyed some of them quite engagingly. More frustrating still is that Director Davis did an excellent job of pacing the movie and adding cute visual ideas on a low budget, and did a SUPER job of making satiric statements through wardrobe choices. Yet, Director Davis hadn't a clue how to direct actor Davis who, in turn, threw away some of the best lines written by writer Davis. It is unknown to what extent co-Producer Davis played in the ultimate cop-out decisions alluded to by the others in arriving at the unsatisfying ending that left so many of us feeling betrayed or cheated. But, at the same time, it is clear that Julie Davis is a woman of great wit, intelligence, and talent that is worthy of harnessing.

Overall, this is fast-moving and enjoyable enough to spend 100 minutes watching. So, why not watch it on Showtime-on-demand, then arrive at your own conclusions?