Thursday, April 1, 2010

REVIEW: Oh My Love Starring Gil Rogers & Tina Sloan

Oh My Love, a new short film from director Jay Bungay, is the story of Stu and Beverly, a modest couple from New York City who have been married more than 40 years, and are dealing the aging process that inevitably we all must face.

As Stu and Bev, former GUIDING LIGHT stars Gil Rogers and Tina Sloan bring the same charm and chemistry they did when their characters were paired on the soap more than 20 years ago. As the film opens, a condition Stu is currently facing is instantly brought to the light and we see the couple go on an emotional journey of acceptance between two people so obviously still in love and willing to support each other unconditionally.

Sloan shines in the role of the wife who desperately wants to help her husband. Doing the role sans makeup, she brings a genuineness to the part and you feel her mix of frustration, love, helplessness and determination. Rogers, meanwhile, plays a far cry from his famous soap roles on GL and ALL MY CHILDREN - an aging man who still wants to see himself as the same viral person he's always been. He doesn't want to accept his condition because that would mean accepting he's getting older. There are some shades of Hawk Shayne toward the end as Stu turns a corner in dealing with the challenge he's facing.

Bungay, who has worked as a finishing editor on GUIDING LIGHT and VENICE, does a wonderful job both directing and editing Oh My Love. The entire film takes place in Stu and Bev's New York home, and from the opening picture montage to the closing scene between the couple, viewers feel a real sense of authenticity about the entire set up.

This was not at times an easy film to watch. It is impossible to view Oh My Love without thinking of your own life, or your parents or grandparents, and what might lie ahead. Whether you've dealt with difficult life decisions as you've gotten older already, or just thinking about doing that someday, the film takes a realistic and honest look at the process of aging as gracefully as possible.

For more info on the film, check out ohmylovethemovie.com.

1 comment:

  1. It's a lovely movie and yet, like you wrote, hard to watch. Soap fans are immediately prone to connect Gil and Tina with Hawk and Lillian, and yet the characters pull you away from them....sort of. It's almost a split screen in your head. Great work!

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