At the heart of “Am I Ok?,” Stephanie Allynne and Tig Notaro‘s directorial feature debut, is a story of personal awakening and female friendship. It’s a coming-of-age story about Lucy (Dakota Johnson) and Jane (Sonoya Mizuno), two thirtysomething best friends who face a challenge when the latter is given a promotion and announces that she will be moving to London. This inspires Lucy to confess her deepest secret: that she’s been attracted to women her entire life, but has always been terrified to act on it. This revelation upends their friendship as the two work on dealing with the unexpected paths their lives are about to take.
The story has many shortcomings and little substance, and the nicest thing I can say about it is that I guess the premise is good enough. The screenplay isn’t stellar, and the humor feels forced. I did not laugh even once during this movie. Jane and Lucy’s banter seems inauthentic as well, their conversations come across as phony and forced. There’s only so much these actors can do with a lousy script and uninteresting characters, although Johnson and Mizuno do have a nice chemistry.
I find it odd that a film about growth and self-discovery isn’t very confident until the finale, which is also far from satisfying. In the end, “Am I OK?” is an average, formulaic movie that lacks originality.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 