Orange County

Orange County is not as funny as American Pie, but that's all right. The movie has its share of ridiculous, over-the-top gags (A dean of admissions high on ecstasy, for example), but it's far more interested in its characters than its jokes, a refreshing change of pace for this type of movie. The material's supported by some very good performances, especially from leads Colin Hanks and Jack Black.

Hanks plays Shaun, a high school senior who desperately wants to escape his horrible upper middle class life in Orange County for literary pursuits under his favorite writer, Marcus Skinner, who is a professor at Stanford University. But his guidance counselor (Lily Tomlin) botches his application, leaving Shaun relying on the assistance of his stoner brother Lance (Black) and his selfish father (John Lithgow).

You have no doubt heard that Colin Hanks is the son of famous acting father Tom. Even if connections got him the job, you cannot deny that he puts in a strong lead performance (Even if it does have some echoes of his dad's likeable everyman persona). Comedy stars like Catherine O'Hara, Chevy Chase, Garry Marshall, all put it nice small pieces, but it is Jack Black who owns most of the funniest moments in the film. His mere presence in a scene can make it funny; often he brings out laughs with a look or a eyebrow twitch.

The film gets a little sappy and formulaic as it heads toward its conclusion; Shaun's reaction when he meets his hero is spot-on, but their conversation about his story feels wrong; and the inevitable ending is what you pretty much expect as soon as that initial rejection letter arrives at Shaun's door. Professor Skinner put it best; "My one complaint - You need an ending."

Orange County needed a stronger, more unusual ending to compliment the offbeat, but very enjoyable vibe the rest of the of the movie gives off. Still, I found myself completely entertained until the end, and left really appreciating the fine writing and acting, and even wishing the movie was a little longer. And that doesn't happen too often.

Shaun Brumder (Colin Hanks) is an abnormally bright child. A kid whose schoolwork comes naturally to him and grades were never something to sweat over. But instead of trying to lead an ambitious life, Shaun chooses to spend his days surfing and hanging out with his pals. But when his best friend Lonny is killed in a surfing accident, Shaun contemplates if this direction is the best one to pursue. He later discovers a novel, written by a man named Marcus Skinner, on the beach one day, reads it cover to cover, and loves every minute of it. Upon reading it a dozen more times, and practicing writing similar stories on his own, he realizes that he has a talent for writing and ultimately that's what he wants to become.

Shaun's homelife is a rather strange one. His parents are divorced, with his mother (Catherine O'Hara) being a sensitive, needy woman and his father (John Lithgow) a selfish and unruly cad. Shaun's brother is Lance (Jack Black), a portly stoner who is rarely seen fully clothed. Lance continues to offer advice to Shaun, which he will inherently disregard as rambling with no meaning, yet this isn't one of those stories where the dopey character may actually be smarter than we believe. He's just dumb.

Our hero's dream, however, is to get accepted to Stanford and major in journalism. His girlfriend, the neighborhood activist Ashley (Schuyler Fisk) is all support, but his chances seemingly plummet downward when his guidance counselor sends the wrong transcript to Stanford. Instead of the bright and dedicated student they should receive, the school accepts some ne'er-do-well stoner who applied on a whim.

Orange County follows Shaun as he tries in every which way to get accepted to Stanford and pursue a life of intellect and creativity. One thing that becomes the top priority on his list is escaping the inherently listless and seemingly mundane town of Orange County, where nobody takes anything with an ounce of seriousness and everyone seems to be self-indulgent and careless.

This is a film with a big agenda, a clear heart, but an often misunderstood soul, mainly because its headliner, Jack Black, doesn't deliver the laughs you would expect. Orange County is not an energetic, high-octane romp, but a sweet and endearing character study that is equal parts sly comedy and equal parts dramatic and deep. A scene comes early on in the film where Shaun is wasting away in a class and his teacher is asking the students if they know anyone who would be interested in speaking to the school about personal experiences. Shaun proposes a writer who has just received a high honor, but is quickly one-upped by another classmate who has connections to Brittney Spears. This scene illustrates so discretely and subtly how motivated and turned on we get as a society by popularity and publicity rather than true talent and admiration.

Colin Hanks, an actor still searching for that breakout role, handles the task here beautifully, even with the challenge and notable burden of carrying a lion's weight of a film on his back. He's no idiot. His character rarely misses a beat and is a calming and simple pleasure to endure. So is his brother, despite his slow, uninspiring persona. Orange County has an indescribable beauty and charm to its screenplay, one that offers an experience that is fresh and viable, and definitely unconventional.

Starring: Colin Hanks, Jack Black, Schuyler Fisk, Catherine O'Hara, John Lithgow, and Lily Tomlin. Directed by: Jake Kasdan.

Shaun Brumder is a student at a high school in Orange County, California. He spends his time surfing with his slacker friends... then one day he finds a book buried in the sand and starts to read it. It changes his life; he determines to become a writer. To that end he applies to study at Stanford University, where the book's author is a lecturer. Unfortunately a bureaucratic mix up leads to him being rejected and it is officially too late to appeal. He isn't helped by his embarrassingly dysfunctional family. The only real help comes from Ashley, his girlfriend... and even she would rather he stayed on Orange County and studied at the same local university as her.

This was a surprisingly fun movie. There are plenty of laughs from start to finish as the story successfully stays just the right side of the line which divides hilarity and cringe-inducing embarrassment. Colin Hanks is solid as protagonist Shaun and Schuyler Fisk impresses as girlfriend Ashley; of the main cast of characters these are the most 'normal'. The other main characters are all fairly dysfunctional; especially Shaun's family. Jack Black stands out as his stoner brother whose attempts to help make matters worse... given the DVD box one might expect him to be on screen for much of the film but he is very much a secondary character; that isn't a problem though as he is funny when on screen but would detract from the story if he'd featured much more. The rest of the cast, which includes quite a few well-known actors in cameo roles is impressive. Comedies about teens seem to favour gross out humour these days but there is nothing really offensive here... unless the sight of Jack Black in his Y-fronts bothers you! Overall I'd recommend this to anybody wanting a good laugh.

Orange County is a predictable, new age teen comedy. Then why is it so great?

Southern California surfer-dude Shaun Brumbder is all about surfing and partying until one of his good friends dies in a surfing accident and Shaun begins to question the point of his life which is all surfing and partying. Then he finds a book that changes his life and he decides he wants to become a writer. The problem? He lives in the rich LA suburban community of Orange County, where people are more obsessed with pop culture and themselves than being happy and Shaun feels he needs to get out to go become a writer and study under his favorite author at Stanford University. (which is about 6 hours north of where he lives)

Again, why is this great? First and foremost, we have the script. It's smart, but still wacky as a teen comedy needs to be. The characters aren't nitwits wander around aimlessly or purposely insult themselves by being complete morons. There's no pointless wandering for a car or bathing in urine. It knows what it is, a teen comedy, but it's smart enough to know it doesn't have to be grossly offensive or incredibly stupid to be funny. The story has a heart, and the wacky antics all support it.

Next is the cast. Without the perfect cast this movie could've been a dud. The main character is played by Colin Hanks (son of Tom Hanks) in his first major starring role and he nails it. He plays the smart surfer-dude with a dream perfectly and he deals and reacts to his environment and the rest of the superb cast as he should. If you really watch you can find a little bit of his father in him, but mostly he is his own actor, and a good one at that. He's very natural playing a realistic character. His girlfriend is played by Schuyler Fisk (daughter of Sissy Spacek), and she's a very positive, caring California girl. Her character wasn't as strong as Hanks', but she was mainly meant to be more of his sidekick than counterpart. Jack Black was the reason I saw this movie in theaters, and he was as awesome as usual (up until recently, where's he has just been taking whatever is thrown at him seemingly) as the unmotivated stoner older brother Hanks' character Shaun doesn't want to be. He's the worst example in the world, and is ultimately part of Shaun's motivation to not become like him. Next are Catherine O'Hara and John Lithgow, who both have seemingly come into their prime closer to middle age. They play off of each other wonderfully as Shaun's selfish parents that live the rich LA life and feel like their son owes them something. Chevy Chase is great as the school principle even though the role is small, he gets a laugh or two as he is bound to do. The teacher Mr. Burke is played by Mike White who strangely hits home as a California high school teacher more into pop culture than teaching, and he also wrote the fantastic script. Also, he is just another character in the long line of people hold Shaun down. Leslie Mann and George Murdock have funny bit parts as Shaun's step-parents who are also completely out of touch with the world. Kevin Kline has a great bit part as the author who inspires Shaun to become a writer and tells him exactly what he wants to hear.

After that, this is just quality film-making by good people. Jake Kasdan (son of Lawrence Kasdan) directed this and his style shines all the way through. I first became a fan of his after his work on the TV show Freaks and Geeks, which is rather similar to this movie in that it deals with the wackiness of teen life in a knowing way. The writer Mike White also wrote a few episodes of Freeks and Geeks, which if you haven't seen, I highly suggest you do as it just hit DVD. Kasdan knows where to put the laughs, but he also knows how to moderate them and not make it a wacky teen orgy fest like the American Pie movies which are motivated only by teen libidos rather than real ambitions. The movie has a good story, and it is well told.

In the end, there is nothing groundbreaking in Orange County. It's a pretty straightforward teen movie with a realistic plot and great performances. With another American Pie-type cast with emphasis on the goofiness, this movie would've been a low-grade teen sex flick. Instead we have a real story about ambition and teen life with a few falls off of roofs and vases falling on heads. 8/10

Orange County has charm, but lacks development. Colin Hanks and Jack Black do well in their respective roles, pretty much straightlaced Hanks reacting in shock to his brother Black's drug-induced pandemonium. Hanks loves his brother who tries his best to help him out, as high as he is. This caring carries the story, and pretty much makes us forgive many of the plot holes and missed backgrounding and other types of story lacks. The actors make Orange County warm and funny and likable, and they all have a believable chemistry too. In lesser hands Orange County wouldve been underwhelming because of how fragmented important parts of the story are, but the cast saves it. Nevertheless Orange County has memorable moments and a good soundtrack (being an MTV production) and a genuine depth in terms of what emotions the actors manage to get across rather than what they actually get to say or do. Decent!