Oh, Hi!
Oh, Hi!
Starring Molly Gordon, Logan Lerman, Geraldine Viswanathan, John Reynolds
Directed by Sophie Brooks
Iris (Molly Gordon) and Isaac (Logan Lerman) have been together for a few months, and they decide to go on a romantic trip to a rental house in the middle of the countryside. The couple seemingly is deeply in love but still getting to know one another, and discover a closet full of sexual toys from the owners that they decide to try out that night, leaving Isaac handcuffed to the bed. The next morning, he tells Iris that he doesn't see this as a relationship and has been with other girls since they met, leading Iris to keep him handcuffed to the bed, giving him twelve hours to fall in love with her. After it goes badly, she calls her friend Max (Geraldine Viswanathan) to help her find a solution to keep her out of jail, but Max inadvertently also involves her boyfriend Kenny (John Reynolds) as well, amplifying the concern for Iris that her once romantic weekend will end in prison.
People associate "Oh, hi!" as "Misery" for the next generation, and I ask, "how dare you be-smudge an iconic classic like 'Misery' by associating it with this mess?" Honestly, that's not a fair thing to say, because this movie wasn't a mess - in fact, for the fair decent amount of the film, I was enjoying the experience - but it ended up dragging on too long and also rushing the ending, and made both main characters annoyingly frustrating in their stupidity.
Writer/director Sophie Brooks should be commended for making an original movie in a world were we demand originality but settle for remakes and sequels, but that appreciation can only go so far in a story that could've been 85 minutes (instead of 95, which made it feel like 125). The story of Iris and Isaac is a modern day romantic comedy, but remove the romance (at least from Isaac's end), a story of two young people who have experienced pain and heartbreak in the past and hope to make the most of their future, but, in Iris's case, this includes Isaac in it.
Molly Gordon and Logan Lerman have insane chemistry together, and you really feel that they're the picture perfect couple for the first third of the film as they lovingly sing "Islands in the Stream," buy strawberries from a local stand (but the cracks begin there as Isaac flirts with the girl, and you see Iris's metaphorical iris twitching), and he cooks scallops for dinner. I actually thought they were together for awhile, but then they started talking about their likes and dislikes and it became apparent that they haven't been together long, which is surprising that they'd take such a trip after dating a short period of time. Still, Gordon and Lerman shine in these moments and even when Isaac is chained to the bed, their humor is infectious and laugh-out-loud funny, which is a shame considering everything else.
Iris is a confusing character, as she seemingly was written a long time ago when women weren't seen as strong as they are today. She's completely infatuated and obsessed with Isaac, and when he doesn't reciprocate, she becomes a crazed not-so-ex girlfriend, taking any power Iris had away in her baffling desire to make Isaac fall in love with her. She makes numerous stupid mistakes and keeps Isaac chained far too long, and is worried she's going to jail for kidnapping (although I'm not a legal expert, I think it'd be difficult to prove this, as Isaac clearly chained himself for sexual pleasure, and anyone who saw them together beforehand saw them in love, so proving she kidnapped him would've been difficult).
To that end, Isaac is equally frustrating, as numerous times Iris was going to unchain him but before she did he either told her he didn't love her, she was crazy, or she's going to jail. So many times I screamed in my brain, "just let her untie you then say it, so you can get away quicker and this movie can end faster!" but it didn't happen. Isaac is stupid, and it's annoying.
So you get two annoying characters and a criminally underused Geraldine Viswanathan (with a weird British accent that comes and goes), and you get a movie that had potential to be the next big ant-romantic comedy, but instead all you could do was wish for it to be over sooner rather than later. Yet, even the ending was rushed so badly it didn't make sense, and if I actually cared I would've wanted to see more of a payout than we got - but I was just grateful for being able to leave.
The Score: D+
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