The real test of a movie, no matter how much or little it cost to make, is its ability to entertain and involve the viewer. As a low-budget ($80,000) film, omaha (the movie) has the same responsibility as its much richer cousins like Waterworld and Toy Story, it must make us glad we sat on our butts for a couple of hours to watch it.

Happily, omaha succeeds most of the time. It is easier to forgive the few places it falls short because it doesn’t make excuses for itself all in all, it’s a comedy that takes itself even less seriously than we take it, if that’s possible.

Spirituality and the quest for a life philosophy is a well-used theme in comedy, most recently shouldered by mainstream comic Jim Carrey in the second Ace Ventura film. But while Carrey made faces at religion and spirituality, Omaha presents the search for spiritual peace as a legitimate journey while getting a lot of comedic mileage out of those who ride spirituality into absurdity.

Advertisement

Simon (Hughston Walkinshaw), the films hero, is a twenty-something Omaha native trying to reconcile his newfound spirituality with the technology that follows him everywhere. It even follows him to Nepal, where on Sundays the Buddhist monks watch monster truck rallies. Simon whines a lot and keeps looking outward for inner peace, traveling the world for a year and returning with some prayer stones he believes will eventually bring him fulfillment.

Watching out for Simon is the freaky yet very likable Gina (Jill Anderson), the opposite of Simon a kickboxing optimist who seems to truly enjoy life and pursue experience for its own sake. Anderson is an exciting actress, crackling with energy in every scene, and, despite her obvious lack of real martial arts skill, we believe she could kick everybody’s ass she has that much attitude. Anderson truly dominates throughout the movie, grabbing your attention whenever she appears, and she will hopefully spark a lot of industry interest with her performance.

Together, Simon and Gina must face an assortment of bad guys to come out spiritually and romantically triumphant, but their true challenge is to come to terms with their crazy world. And Omaha, Neb. is as good a place as any to find one’s self, Simon must learn.

The mayor of Omaha, the governor of Nebraska, the president of the University of Omaha and the sheriff of Lincoln, Neb., all make hilarious guest appearances, helping omaha find the irony in Midwestern politics. These guys are the real thing, and you can’t help but wonder what they think of their image now. Omaha isn’t one of the political videos director Dan Mirvish used to shoot before he made movies, everything the officials say is presented as a tongue-in-cheek jab at the rhetoric and reality of issues like unemployment, crime, education and tourism in the region.

I give it eight out of ten stars. Omaha is a gentle ride, taking its time getting started and grinding to a halt slowly, so in a way the moments within the film add up to more than the whole. Viewers may leave unsure of exactly what the point was this isn’t the usual Hollywood script worked over by several writers for perfect marketability. But thinking back, most should appreciate the fresh approach and the gems that happen when a filmmaker takes risks.

Omaha, (the movie) is not rated, and is showing at the AMC theater.