Rating: 
Summary: Nothing to get excited about!
Review: I went to this movie hoping that would be more than just another teen movie. Well, it was but it wasn't much better. The plot was predictable but the jokes were enough for me. They were not all origenel but they will make most teens or preteens laugh! Overall if you really wan't to see this movie don't waste your money in theaters, just rent it when it comes out.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Hate Me But - It Wasn't That Great!
Review: Please don't hate me. I'm a movie fan yes, but I try not to be a cinema snob. The thing is, this movie just didn't do it for me and I'll explain why.
The film which concerns a high school student desperate to get into Stanford whose transcript is mixed up with a dumb student's (yeah, that's about it!), does stand out among the recent teen flicks because of it's originality. I'll give it that. I'll also say that it has some great performances going for it. Colin Hanks and Jack Black make this film watchable. I loved Black as the stoner brother. That's the good stuff. Here's the stuff I don't like.
The film just seems to recycle jokes we've seen hundreds of times. So they do it in a new way. It's still the same old jokes. Often times I found myself groaning when the humour resorted to picking on the elderly, featured several unwanted lesbian jokes and broke out more potty humor. It just felt recycled in a different package. I'll make my point now. If you're a teenager who likes this kind of stuff, then see it. YOU'LL probably enjoy it. But anyone else? Count on being amused, yes, but in a season when so many award winning films are out, the only thing this reviewer has to say is: Why bother?
Rating: 
Summary: An Inspiration To Young Writers Everywhere
Review: It seems these days that every movie that is either geared towards teens or is written about teens, or both, is met with less than enthusiastic response by critics and most frequent moviegoers. Orange County is the golden exception to this rule. Being a college student in Orange (The city), California, which is in Orange (The county), California, I see the frightening accuracy of this movie. But more than poke fun at Southern Californians, the movie does what most movies in its genre forget to do: it makes you feel good. It reminds each of us that those less than perfect people in our lives are perfect for us, and that we often times wouldn't really want it any other way. And being an aspiring writer as well, I learned an important lesson that actually inspired me to go home and write twice - once after I saw the movie, and again after I saw it the second time and still the movie lost nothing to me. This is a surprise. A very good surprise.
Rating:
Summary: A comedy with charm!
Review: There have been mixed reviews on the latest MTV film "Orange County". Some hated it simply because it was free from gross out gags, others loved it for the same reason. Love it or hate it, like 1999's "Election", "Orange County" doesn't go down the typical teen comedy path. Instead, it gives us smart jokes, refreshing characters with heart and a terrific storyline. Some of the angles taken in this movie may seem cartoonish, however "Orange County" does have realism in the mix. What teenager doesn't want to get out of their hometown and be free from their parents? It's a movie that every teenager can relate to. As for the cartoonish angles, those are simply played for laughs. (And they're funny without being gross. Something I appreciated) The acting was excellent, especially from Jack Black as Shaun's older brother and Schuyler Fisk as Shaun's tenderhearted girlfriend. Black has what it takes to be a real comedian, and Fisk holds her own in the film with her girl next door vibe and sweetness. The supporting cast was also amazing, with cameos from Garry Marshall, Chevy Chase, Harold Ramis and others. "Orange County" is a movie I strongly recommend. It may not have laugh out loud slapstick or award winning dialogue, but if you're looking for a funny movie with well-developed characters, then this is the perfect film for you.
Rating: 
Summary: What??!?
Review: I dont know if these people saw the same movie or not. This was DUMB. One of the worst movies i've ever seen. Stupid is saying too much.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best comedies so far this year!
Review: I really enjoyed this film! It was totally engaging and fun to watch. Not one dull moment. Colin Hanks is great as the lead character, and Jack Black is hilarious as always. There are lots of great actors and actresses in this film, and they all deserve credit for participating in it. The writing and direction were great! It is a great film about a boy's struggle to get into the college of his dreams. There are cameos by Ben Stiller and Kevin Kline as well. This flim was a treat! I highly recommend this movie. I wish more teen comedies were as intelligent as this one. I plan on getting the DVD when it arrives. See this one, be entertained!
Rating: 
Summary: A very funny movie!
Review: Oh, what a delightful movie "Orange County" is, with its wonderful brand of situational humor and use of Hollywood's underrated actors who bring out the best in the material. One could almost call this film the anti-"American Pie," considering the PG-13 rating and its somewhat toned down brand of comedy, but it's just as humorous as that previous winner, and comes out as a terrific exercise in non-stop laughs. The story takes place in Orange County, California, where high school senior Shaun Brumder (newcomer Colin Hanks) spends his days cutting class to go surfing with his three best friends. As his story goes, his friend's drowning death while surfing in a tropical storm leads him to change his goals; after finding a popular book on the beach and reading it 52 times in a single month, he makes the decision of becoming a good writer, something he feels he cannot achieve while living where he does. And who could blame him? His mother, Cindy (Catherine O'Hara), spends her days living in a drunken stupor, the product of a marriage for material wealth who wants nothing more than for Shaun to remain at home. Her husband is an elderly man who requires a wheelchair and a daily dose of various medications to keep him docile, while Shaun's brother Lance (Jack Black) is a connoisseur of illegal substances. His father (John Lithgow), who divorced his mother for a 20-year-old toothpick, is appalled by his son's future plans. This leaves him one option: going to college out of town, and so he applies to Stanford, a school he yearns for with every fiber of his being. After he is rejected through a comedic series of mishaps and misunderstandings, he becomes desperate, and so he, his girlfriend Ashley (Schuyler Fisk), and Lance drive out to Stanford to set things straight. What will follow in the second half of the film is a very funny sequence of events that are refreshingly humorous and sometimes meaningful. Such scenes as the dinner at which Shaun attempts to impress a prestigious Stanford couple (played with great gusto by Garry Marshall and Dana Ivey), and that involving the Dean of Admissions and a bottle of Lance's "pain killers," are nothing short of side-splitting, some of the funniest moments in a movie in quite some time. Those looking for something in the vein of the recent outpouring of gross-out flicks will be disappointed in "Orange County's" reluctance to go over the edge, but it does succeed in tickling one's funny bone. The best aspect of this film is its shining cast, which includes the best work of some untapped resources that have been missing in action for years. O'Hara and Lithgow turn in quirky, delightful performances as Shaun's parents, while newcomer Hanks makes his mark on Hollywood as teenage boy surrounded by insanity. Jack Black practically steals the show as Lance, taking a turn from his character's in last year's "Shallow Hal" by portraying one of the most detestable human beings in a most enlightening manner. And look out for cameos from Lily Tomlin as a disgruntled guidance counselor, Chevy Chase as a pop culture principal, and Kevin Kline as a prestigious yet down-to-earth writer. Without revealing too much about the film, I will say that Shaun's second change of heart that comes at the movie's ending may be too sentimental for a movie of such comedic potential, but it doesn't cheat by the rules of the teen movie, and is perfectly acceptable. As for the comedy, it doesn't push the envelope, and that's a good thing. "Orange County" is the first truly great comedy of the year, and after last year's hoard of flops, this one adds a glimmer of hope for 2002.
Rating:
Summary: 1 1/2 Stars: There's no place like Home...
Review: "Orange County" (actually shot in the San Fernando Valley) is Jake Kasdan's attempt at a new Millenium "Ridgemont High" with Jack Black standing in for Sean Penn.
But whereas "Ridgemont High" was a teen movie with serious things to say about high school life in the 80's, "Orange County" is almost devoid of any original thought or charm whatsoever even though two Hollywood offspring, Colin Hanks (so good in TV's "Roswell") and Schuyler Fisk (Sissy Spacek's daughter), do their best in what is a losing proposition.
Jack Black, who actually showed a warmness and genial appeal in "Shallow Hal," does a very bad imitation of John Belushi in "Animal House" here.
Hanks plays Shaun Brumder, high school senior who has applied to Stanford University and is awaiting a reply, is hoping to persue a career in writing for which he shows some genuine talent. With the competition for each spot at the best colleges on a very high level, millions of high school students await these acceptance or denial letters every April with anticipation. Sure this is meant to be a fun, irreverent teen movie, but Kasdan definitely missed the boat for underestimating the concern, sophistication and the almost palpable desperation of his teen audience. For a teenager getting into the "right" college is tantamount to finding the right husband or wife later in life.
Several adults make cameo appearances: Garry Marshall, John Lithgow, Kevin Kline to name a few. But only Kline manages to add a little class to the proceedings.
It is no doubt a difficult propostion to find the right balance between the serious and the comic and still appeal to the young adult audience and Jake Kasdan has very little success with either in "Orange County." Maybe he should screen Lawrence Kasdan's "Grand Canyon" for some ideas.
Rating:
Summary: Sure to Be a Cult Classic
Review: I absolutley loved this film. I don't think you can truly appreciate it unless you actually know about, or better yet are from, Orange County. The kids in the movie might as well have been based on my friends. Shaun's family is barely exaggerated: The drunken, gold-digging mother, the money-hungry craddle robbing father, the dead-beat older brother, ALL CLASSIC ORANGE COUNTY! There are so many small references and semmingly unimportant lines that only an Orange County local can truly appreciate. This film is brilliant and hit very close to home...
Rating:
Summary: Orange County-------NOT an other teen movie!
Review: I personaly loved Orange County and thought it had great gags and many laughs it was not too imature and was not an other teen movie!It was very well acted and had a great plot and cast.I loved the cast it was thought out very well so was the movie.GO SEE ORANGE COUNTY!!!!!!!!!!
|
