Oh, Hi!

Issac (Logan Lerman) and Iris (Molly Gordon) see a romantic getaway go awry in Oh, Hi! (Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics)

Modern romance among younger people is fraught with complications, misunderstandings and conflicting emotions. These things are ripe material for movies, which explore them regularly in a myriad of ways. The comedy Oh, Hi! approaches contemporary dating with a wacky premise and a lot of laughs. It isn’t the most insightful, treading some familiar ground, yet it takes its characters’ feelings seriously enough, as well as the issues that stem from them, to make the story matter. Most of all, it is pretty funny, never being so silly that its themes get overwhelmed, while also never forgetting that it is a comedy centering around a ridiculous situation.

It is a romcom where only one of the parties sees the romance. It is an extreme example of what happens when two involved people expect wildly different things from the other. At what point does the line shift from “just having fun” to “genuine commitment?” The actors are likable and the writing is clever. Even if it doesn’t end up saying as much as it seems like it wants to, it is a very enjoyable movie.

Iris and Isaac are on their first trip together, staying at a farmhouse in the country. A night of drinking leads to kinky sex. When Isaac unexpectedly reveals something disappointing, Iris does not take it well, resulting in an awkward predicament with no easy outs for either of them.

Oh, Hi! (88 minutes, without the end credits) sets the tone right off the bat, with an adorably odd scene of the leads bantering as they drive toward their destination. Iris seems open, ready to joke, trying to get to know the guy she is preparing to get serious with. Isaac is fine with playing around, though gently squirms away from anything emotionally intimate. This sequence tells us all we truly need to know about who these people are before the plot kicks in. The screenplay doesn’t dive too much deeper into them. They are two people having a good time, with their own individual ideas about where things should go from here.

Molly Gordon plays Iris as witty, caring and maybe just a wee bit desperate. Logan Lerman plays Isaac as charming, affectionate and a little withdrawn. Things take a turn when he tells her he’s not interested in a relationship, choosing the absolute worst possible time to let that information slip out. They have decent chemistry together, which is perfect for this story. If they really clicked, or if they didn’t click at all, that would change how the ensuing conflict comes across to the viewer. She sees more than is there, while he sees less. It is an amusing dynamic that the screenplay uses in entertaining ways.

Writer/director Sophie Brooks is very focused on communication, emotional honesty and how much of those things people owe each other, especially at this stage of a relationship. Have they discussed how they feel? Issac seems to believe they have. He doesn’t understand how Iris has gotten the wrong idea about his intentions. Brooks isn’t laughing at her characters, allowing them to recognize how badly they’ve screwed up and mine jokes from how they compound their issues. Add in Geraldine Viswanathan and John Reynolds as friends of Iris that she calls for help in a panic, and you have something bordering on farce. It works and Molly Gordon (who received co-credit for coming up with the story) is a burgeoning comedy star.

Comedies don’t do well at the box office anymore, finding more of an audience on streaming services, but hopefully word of mouth will get Oh, Hi! some attention. It is a nice, funny, change of pace in a summer full of action and explosions.

3½ out of 5

Cast:

Molly Gordon as Iris

Logan Lerman as Isaac

Geraldine Viswanathan as Max

John Reynolds as Kenny

David Cross as Steve

Written/Directed by Sophie Brooks