Love & Orgasms

I saw this film when it premiered at the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival and immediately felt the embarrassing feeling that I think the director Dana Offenbach felt when she made it. The subject matter is so frustrating, love, love ,love... what are we to do...? Dana's film is a wonderful concoction of how that problem is dealt with... and the humor in the film comes from seeing ourselves in the story. Jay Amari gives great depth and life to an underwritten character. Dreena Deniro has great presence and fire. I hope that Dana Offenbach continues to write and direct more and looks to the future as an opportunity to work with new writers. If you get the chance to see this film, do it with a date, but someone you are close to- you'll both enjoy it.

In a movie landscape filled with inane romantic comedies, supercilious chick flicks and high-tech overbudget confusing visions of the future - I was relieved to see a picture like "Love & Orgasms" could actually get made. It was an absolute gas.

Everything about it was so real. From the sly office banter to the shocking denouement of the main character to the absolutely hysterical poker game scene, it rang true like no other movie I've seen in a really long time.

It's raw. It's real. It's exactly the kind of acknowledgement we big city girls are looking for. God bless Dana Offenbach. If this is her first film, I can't wait for the second. All I can say is thank you, girl. You really get it.

Love and Orgasms disappointed me in several areas.

The directing was weak. Many of the comedic beats were way off. This film could have been a lot funnier, but this seemingly first-time director lacked talent.

With the exception of the lead roll, the acting was often laughable.

The cinematography was poor. Many of the camera angles were confusing, and did not cut together well. Some shots were underexposed. In many scenes, the lighting did not seem to compliment the movie.

The cutting was very weak. Many cuts were completely unmotivated. The editor chose to cut between close-ups and a wide shots at a whim, which was very distracting. The fact that no thought was given to the scene transitions bothered me very much. The editor dissolved to/from black for every transition, and the timing was usually off, so it became distracting. Whoever cut this film seemed to lack knowledge of the most rudimentary editing techniques.

I have seen many very-low-budget student films that were crafted better than this one.