The Oh in Ohio
2006 film

The Oh in Ohio is a 2006 American comedy film directed by Billy Kent and starring Parker Posey, Paul Rudd, Mischa Barton and Danny DeVito. The picture was screened at several US film festivals from March to May 2006 and was released theatrically by Cyan Pictures on July 14, 2006. Set in Cleveland, much of the film was shot on location at well-known Cleveland area landmarks such as Coventry Village and Case Western Reserve University.
Plot
Frustrated with the fact that he cannot give his wife Priscilla (Parker Posey) an orgasm, Jack (Paul Rudd) moves out of the house and starts a relationship with Kristen (Mischa Barton), his student. Unfulfilled, Priscilla forms an unlikely partnership with Wayne (Danny DeVito), a businessman more than twice her age.
Cast
Parker Posey as Priscilla Chase
Paul Rudd as Jack Chase
Danny DeVito as Wayne the Pool Guy
Mischa Barton as Kristen Taylor
Miranda Bailey as Sherri
Keith David as Coach Popovich
Liza Minnelli as Alyssa Donahue
Heather Graham as Justine
Tim Russ as Douglas
Adam Nelson as Kid at Vending Machine
Reception
The film was a commercial failure, earning $648,183 on a $5 million budget at the box office. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 23% approval rating based on 70 reviews, with an average score of 4.7/10 and the website's consensus reads, "A muddled sex-comedy that feels oddly sexless, The Oh in Ohio packs in too many ideas without establishing a clear identity or objective." Dan Callahan of Slant gave the film 0 stars out of 4, calling it an "implausible, weirdly depressed comedy", adding "there isn't one laugh in it". Entertainment Weekly was more favorable, giving the film a 'B−', with Owen Gleiberman describing it as "a silly, amusing trifle".
The public source identifies “The Oh in Ohio” as 2006 film. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Ohio and film.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Oh in Ohio” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.