Rating: Summary: the best movie i have seen this year Review: this is by far the best movie i have seen in a long time. all i can say is that i want to move to orange county since i have seen this movie.
Rating: Summary: Hilarious! Review: By far the funniest movie I have seen in the past few years. You do not want to miss this movie! Jack Black, while not the main star, steals the show. If you are a fan of his, it is worth the purchase. If you have not seen this, you are missing out on a gem.
Rating: Summary: maybe fun for teens Review: "Orange County" will appeal to teenage viewers. As an indie, it's well put together for this target audience, with built-in laughs and some real guffaws. I especially enjoyed John Lithgow, who has a Broadway hit currently, and is the well-known lead in the tv show "Third Rock from the Sun". The movie's plot will carry you along, as the hero is carried up to Stanford from Orange County, with his druggie brother at the wheel. There's a happy ending, and even a fuzzy attempt at a fable-type meaning to it all.
Rating: Summary: Orange to the Top Review: Orange County can be described as the movie that will set off a dozen more teen-movies with sharp witt, sarcastic humour and a lack of "troubled-with-sex-in any way" formula that has ruled teen movies since American Pie came out. In 80's style, minus its standard absurdity, Colin Hanks starts his career in a better way than ol' da did. His skills as an actor can be seen in his subtle performance which comes out as realistic and funny with a lot of class. Jack Black has not given us a great performance since "High Fidelity," but in this movie he's hysterically funny, still, the role did not provide for room to show off his skills. The story is solid and steers away from slapstick-teen-comedy, and instead deals with the troubled situation a young man is put into when all his college plans are destroyed and his family is only a wacky burden. The only two things i did not like were the california-surf-dude-pals and the fact that Chevy Chase only apears for less than a minute. Other than that some great cameos make everything funnier, and the laughs keep on coming. In this DVD you will also find 15 teasers, or interstitials, 10 of which are really funny, the only one they did not slip in was the "great writers" interstitial. 4 deleted scenes and commentary by director and writer make this dvd a better buy. All in all this is a good movie, fun and enjoyable, even though its not a blockbuster. This will prove to be a future classic, and will probably launch the starring role players on to bigger things.
Rating: Summary: Better than expected Review: The only big problem with the movie is that Jack Black isn't in it enough. Otherwise, an above average crass teen comedy that balloons up the the insanity of a dysfunctional family to fantastic proportions, but those of us with one will recognize ourselves anyway. The whole of Orange County seems to be conspiring to stop a high school grad from going to Stanford to become a writer's protege. Those included in the conspiracy are Catherine O' Hara, playing his drunk, emotionally dependent mom who has married a graying invalid to keep the family's bills paid(or avoid doing housework?), a dad played by John Lithgow who is a wealthy businessman with a 20 year old wife and couldn't be bothered to help, two surfing pyromaniac lushes as best friends, an incompetent guidance counselor, and of course, Jack Black as his dunced out, perpetually hungover older brother who tries a little too hard to offer unwanted help. Something as silly as all this must have a happy ending, and it definitely does. High points: Harold Ramis takes Ecstasy. Jack Black. Jack Black. Not enough Jack Black. I'm 30, but I still think this guy's stoner irony and physical looniness is funny. Sue me.
Rating: Summary: show me the door, and I show you my rear Review: Orange County resembles more southern Florida than California in this off beat comedy about the coming of age for some soon-to-be college bound misfits. A mere retirement community for cameo appearances by Chevy Chase, Harold Ramis, Lilly Tomlin, and John Lithgow bring tired, worn, lifeless characters to this screen as flat as the tires on the old 1950 Oliver tractor outside. Even the few moments we see Kevin Kline and Ben Stiller are painful. Jack Black doesn't fair much better. Everything he does, says comes off as calculated, forced, missing any mark of a spontaneous target - a fair-to-lousy "animal house" impersonation. Colin Hank, while maybe not funny, is at least passable, believable in his sincerity, and his quest to become a writer, attend Stanford. His moments with his girlfriend might draw an "Ah, shucks. How sweet" at best. We've seen this script before, countless times in teen movies - never fresh, always stale. The few bright moments revolve around his "surfer dude" school mates, and the maid at his domicile. Perhaps 10 minutes of the entire film. Don't let this dumb movie play you for stupid, unless you already are. At least art imitates real life here - Orange County is the pits.
Rating: Summary: Dissappointing Review: I gotta say as with most movies, this movie's previews dipicted all of the funny parts, other then that it's not really worth watching unless you get to do so for free! Don't expect too much, basically it's just a film that tries to make the stereotypical california kids the butt of this hour and a half long joke!
Rating: Summary: This movie was no fun. Review: I liked Legally Blonde, loved Varsity Blues, and generally enjoy the type of comedy Orange County is patterned after. I cannot say enough about how lame this movie is. Colin Hanks doesn't have a funny line in the entire movie. And as the dorks on the commentary point out, he's in every scene. I can't really fault Hanks because the material is so poopie that the movie can't help but be awkward. Maybe the problem is that the writer and director just aren't funny to me. The commentary is worse than the movie. They talk about how funny things are in monotone. If it's funny, they should be a little happier about it. The trailer is funnier than the movie, and they cut the funniest part of the trailer out. I would not recommend buying this without seeing it first. And I wouldn't recommend seeing it. Do something else with your money.
Rating: Summary: Sweet but dull, dull, dull. Review: Yes, this movie does have a modicum more of intelligence and heart than most recent teen comedies. Unfortunately, it's simply not very funny. Writer Mike White can produce wicked, funny material ("Chuck & Buck," "Pasadena"), but this looks like some leftover he pulled out of his drawer and peppered with the requisite "wild teen gross-out" jokes. Director Jake Kasdan, so effective when working in TV, doesn't bring much but a bit of heart to the proceedings - though, to his credit, he doesn't go in for a manic style that so many others do. He lets the laughs (or what he assumes will be laughs) come at a much more mature, leisurely pace. Again, too bad they're not funny. This is even more unexcusable when you have some of the greatest comedic actors working today at your disposal (being a Kasdan DOES have it's perks). How can you have Catherine O'Hara, Harold Ramis, & Lily Tomlin in your film and have them NOT be uproariously funny for their entire duration onscreen (though O'Hara manages a few moments of laughter playing drunk)? Hanks and Fisk are appealing, but neither can carry the film. They simply don't yet have the charisma of their famous folks. Perhaps in time, though. Jack Black comes off best (though he's much funnier in other films) and White, himself, has an amusing cameo. Ultimately, though, I sat through this film waiting to laugh and didn't. This film is NOT offensively bad, though. It's pleasant, at least. I would've given it perhaps an extra star rating if it hadn't been for the unforgivable waste of prime comedic talent.
Rating: Summary: It is a State of Mind! Review: "Orange County" isn't a place, it's a state of mind. A perfect tagline for this non-typical teen movie. Shaun Brumder (Colin Hanks) has committed himself to writing after he found a novel by a Stanford professor at the beach. His friend died trying to surf the 'big one' and he decided to go to Stanford to study with the famous Professor Skinner. Shaun's dreams are put on a halt when his high school counselor sent in the wrong transcript (typical school counselor). He tries everything to get into the college with the help of his girlfriend (Schuyler Fisk) and his smelly brother (Jack Black). The commercial for this movie is deceiving and I thought I was going to see Jack Black more often in his dirty underwear. Ha! Too bad, you get a real movie with a good message and touching characters. Watch out for the old man in the wheelchair and John Lithgow almost saying the F word! Whoa. Chevy Chase is in the movie for about a minute and doesn't say much. Yes. Even Kevin Kline and Ben Stiller make cameos. How outrageous is that? "Shaun, have you seen my pants?" The commercial ruined that line. Good movie.
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