Opie Gets Laid | |
---|---|
Directed by | James Ricardo |
Written by | James Ricardo |
Produced by | Heidemarie Fuentes Christopher Gosch James Ricardo Rogina |
Starring | James Ricardo April Wade Ute Werner Jesselynn Desmond |
Cinematography | Christopher Gosch |
Edited by | Thom Obarski Christopher Gosch |
Production company | The Company Pictures |
Distributed by | Vivendi Entertainment |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 75 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | US$100,000 |
Opie Gets Laid, originally titled Sunnyvale for its film festival submissions, is a 2005 American independent romantic comedy film written, directed and led by James Ricardo, also starring April Wade, Ute Werner and Jesselynn Desmond. [1]
At 30 years old, Opie (James Ricardo) is a virgin whose existence is made up of watching pornography and eating junk food. One day a drug dealer named Thai (April Wade) mistakenly comes to his door. She decides to help Opie by finding him a good woman, initially (and unsuccessfully) by online personal ads. Thai and Opie end up sleeping together while high on marijuana, then end up seeing each other regularly. Opie starts having sex with other women, including Thai's lesbian lover Dakota (Ute Werner) and a "gun-toting" nymphomaniac named Rain (Jesselynn Desmond).
The film was shot at the Higgins Building in Los Angeles and in a New York City-style loft and is partly autobiographical. According to writer/director James Ricardo, it was [originally] called Sunnyvale because he "didn't know what else to call it": "Much like movie titles like Eraserhead. Sunnyvale is a comedic sounding title. It's a city that could only be in California." [2] Under its new title it is distributed by Vivendi Entertainment. [3] [4]
The film was titled Sunnyvale during its film festival run and was the winner of the William Shatner Golden Groundhog Award for 'Best Underground Movie' of 2005. [2] [5] The award was described by critic Joshua Taylor as "maybe... just a veiled promotional tool for William Shatner's new DVD of the month club". [6]
SFist wrote that "...writer/director James Ricardo also starred in the movie and he was definitely the weakest of the actors. So it was hard to tell if it was just wooden acting that make Ricardo, the character, so passive or if he was intended to be. Talking to other filmgoers about it afterward, we all seemed confused. No one really disliked it but everyone seemed unsure if they liked it really, or if they just wanted to like it." [7]
DVD Talk offered that the film is "a lowbrow talking head comedy with a wittier than average script," and for "a first time director, Ricardo could have done much worse. His script is good, and he gets good performances from his three lead actresses." In making comparisons between Ricardo and directors such as Woody Allen and Clint Eastwood who have acted in films they were also directing, they made note that Ricardo's own lead performance as a deadpan Opie was serviceable, but had a stiffness that a director not himself in front of the camera might have caught. They summarized by stating the film "is a quirky romantic comedy about sex that has no sex and stars a cast of unknowns. But if you can get past that, you should be entertained." [8]
DVD Verdict noted that the title and packaging led to expectations of a cheapo sex comedy featuring "clichéd plot developments and plenty of gratuitous nudity," but that the film "feels more like a stage adaptation than anything else", with sexual content only alluded to by dialogue scenes serving "as the 'before' and 'after' for dozens of brief but apparently successful sexual encounters". They commented that the "editing is tight, the dialogue is occasionally quite amusing, and the film rarely becomes terribly boring", noting "many individual attributes of merit here, so it's a little disappointing that the film as a whole doesn't quite gel". They commented that the character of Opie as written by Ricardo had much potential, but that as played by the director just was not interesting. They noted a paradox in that "Ricardo's performance suggests that he knows his writing is good," in that he "delivers the dialogue with a sort of smug assurance that feels more like a tell than like a natural extension of the character's personality". They concluded that the film "wins points for breaking some genre conventions" and that Ricardo and some of the other cast have potential for future films. [9]
When Harry Met Sally... is a 1989 American romantic comedy drama film written by Nora Ephron and directed by Rob Reiner. It stars Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan as Harry and Sally, respectively. The story follows the title characters from the time they meet in Chicago and share a drive to New York through twelve years of chance encounters in New York City. The film addresses the question "Can men and women ever just be friends?"
This Is Spinal Tap is a 1984 American mockumentary film co-written and directed by Rob Reiner. The film stars Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer as members of the heavy metal band Spinal Tap, who are characterized as "one of England's loudest bands". Reiner plays Martin "Marty" Di Bergi, a documentary filmmaker who follows them on their American tour. The film satirizes the behavior and musical pretensions of rock bands and the perceived hagiographic tendencies of rock documentaries such as The Song Remains the Same (1976) and The Last Waltz (1978), and follows the similar All You Need Is Cash (1978) by the Rutles. Most of its dialogue was improvised and dozens of hours were filmed.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is a 1989 American science fiction film directed by William Shatner and based on the television series Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry. It is the fifth installment in the Star Trek film series, and takes place shortly after the events of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986). Its plot follows the crew of the USS Enterprise-A as they confront renegade Vulcan Sybok, who is searching for God at the center of the galaxy.
3rd Rock from the Sun is an American television sitcom created by Bonnie and Terry Turner, which originally aired from January 9, 1996, to May 22, 2001, on NBC. The show is about four extraterrestrials who are on an expedition to Earth, the third planet from the Sun, which they consider to be a very insignificant planet. The extraterrestrials pose as a human family to observe the behavior of human beings.
Sunnyvale, California is a city in Santa Clara County in Silicon Valley.
Freddy Got Fingered is a 2001 surreal black comedy film directed by Tom Green in his feature film directorial debut and written by Green and Derek Harvie. Green stars in the film as a childish slacker who wishes to become a professional cartoonist while dealing with his abusive father's behavior. Its plot resembles Green's struggles as a young man trying to get his television series picked up, which would later become the MTV series The Tom Green Show. The title of the film refers to a plot point where Green's character falsely accuses his father of sexually abusing his brother, the eponymous Freddy.
Free Enterprise is a 1999 romantic comedy film starring Eric McCormack and Rafer Weigel, and featuring William Shatner, directed by Robert Meyer Burnett and written by Mark A. Altman and Burnett.
A Dog's Breakfast is a Canadian comedy independent film produced in 2006. It was the first film to be written and directed by British-born Canadian actor David Hewlett, who is best known for his role of Dr. Rodney McKay in the TV franchise Stargate. Hewlett created the film as a private off-season project and stars alongside his real-life sister Kate Hewlett and Stargate actors Paul McGillion, Christopher Judge and Rachel Luttrell. The film was produced by John Lenic and Jane Loughman.
Big Bad Mama is a 1974 American action-crime-sexploitation comedy movie produced by Roger Corman, starring Angie Dickinson, William Shatner, and Tom Skerritt, with Susan Sennett and Robbie Lee. This movie is about a mother, Wilma, and her two daughters, Polly and Billie Jean, who go on a crime spree. After the mother unexpectedly falls in love with a bank robber it all ends, with tragic consequences. Big Bad Mama became a cult hit and was followed by a sequel, Big Bad Mama II, in 1987.
Up for Grabs is a 2004 comedic documentary about two men who fought over custody of a baseball. It is based on a real-life incident surrounding a record-setting Barry Bonds home run, where the ball was contested in the property law case of Popov v. Hayashi. It was directed and produced by Michael Wranovics.
On The Doll is a 2008 American drama feature film directed and written by director Thomas Mignone. The film features Nolan North's live-action acting debut.
An American Carol is a 2008 American satirical comedy film directed by David Zucker and written by Zucker, Myrna Sokoloff and Lewis Friedman. Using the framework of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, the film follows liberal filmmaker Michael Malone as he is visited by three spirits to teach him the importance of Independence Day. The film satirizes liberalism in the United States, with focus on Moore's documentaries. It stars Kevin Farley as Malone, alongside an ensemble supporting cast that includes Kelsey Grammer, Leslie Nielsen, Trace Adkins, Robert Davi, and Jon Voight.
William Shatner is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship Enterprise in the second pilot of the first Star Trek television series to his final appearance as Captain Kirk in the seventh Star Trek feature film, Star Trek Generations (1994).
James Ricardo is an American film director, screenwriter and producer.
April Wade is an American actress, film producer and screenwriter.
Heidemarie Fuentes is an American actress and producer.
Gina DeVettori is an American actress and writer.
Porky's Pimpin' Pee Wee is a 2009 American sex comedy film. It was produced as an ashcan copy in order to retain the legal rights to produce a remake of the film Porky's (1981).
Mind Meld: Secrets Behind the Voyage of a Lifetime is a 2001 American documentary film in which actors William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy discuss the Star Trek science fiction franchise and its effects on their lives. Shatner and Nimoy portrayed the characters James T. Kirk and Spock respectively in the 1960s Star Trek television series, the 1970s animated television series, and their film sequels.
Prison of the Dead is a 2000 supernatural horror film with elements of a zombie film and a slasher directed by David DeCoteau under the pseudonym Victoria Sloane and produced by Charles Band. It follows a group of friends who unwittingly resurrect a trio of zombie prison executioners that systematically hunt them down.