"Orange County", 2002

Jack Black and Colin Hanks star in "Orange County"

    “Orange County” is a movie, much like (though to a lesser degree) 1998’s “Can’t Hardly Wait”, that is even more interesting to go back and watch now, as many of the actors and bit players have become more prominent since the movie was released. Unlike “Can’t Hardly Wait”, though, the young actors of “Orange County” are joined by many well-versed comedic legends.

    Colin Hanks stars as Shaun Brumder, a high school senior from an affluent neighborhood in Orange County, California who wants nothing more than to graduate high school and attend Stanford, where he can study writing under the tutelage of his idol, novelist Marcus Skinner (Kevin Kline, in an unaccredited cameo). Shaun sees this as a way to escape his life surrounded by vapid anti-intellectuals and superficial trust fund babies.  Shaun’s transcripts get mis-managed by his guidance counselor (Lilly Tomlin) and his application to Stanford is denied. His girlfriend, Ashley (Schuyler Fisk), manages to get him an interview with a classmate’s grandfather (Garry Marshall), who happens to be on the board at the college. The interview goes disastrously wrong due to the unfortunate antics of his alcoholic mother (Catherin O’Hara) and perpetually stoned, ne’er-do-well of a brother, Lance (Jack Black, playing essentially the same character he always plays). So, finally, after being turned down for financial help from his father (John Lithgow) and his new trophy wife (Leslie Mann) because he disagrees with his son’s writing aspirations, Shaun enlists his brother to drive him to Stanford so he can plead his case to the admissions director (Harold Ramis), and Ashley decides to tag along for the adventure.

    Upon arriving at the college things continue to spiral ever downward for Shaun in a Rube Goldberg-ian series of actions. Drugs are accidentally taken, a building is set ablaze, people fall off of roofs and down tree-covered hills. The plot is easy enough to follow, but the events take a massive suspension of disbelief, much like most comedic road movies. The movie manages to elicit a few laughs along the way, which is the main objective of any comedy. The main strength, though, lies in the excellent casting and director Jake Kasdan’s wise decision to enroll the talents of strong veteran actors to help many of the young newcomers along. Colin Hanks does a superb job in the lead role and is very reminiscent of his father, especially from earlier in his career during his comedic days.

    While watching this movie, you will almost assuredly being running to the computer to consult IMDb, trying to figure out where you’ve seen one of the actors or actresses. Among the bigger names that make cameos, besides those previously mentioned are Ben Stiller and Chevy Chase. Anyone familiar with Judd Apatow’s television series, “Freaks & Geeks” and “Undeclared”, will be familiar with some of the younger actors along the way (Sarah Hagan, Monica Keena and Natasha Melnick all appear briefly). Also making small appearances are Bret Harrison (“Reaper”), Lizzy Caplan (“True Blood”, “Party Down”), Jane Adams (“Hung”) and Kyle Howard (“My Boys”). I’m always delighted when I re-watch a movie and see an actor that has since gone on to nab bigger roles in different projects.

    Overall, the movie does what it needs to do. Namely, keep the narrative moving while providing a few chuckles in the process. Nothing fails miserably, but then, nothing really excels admirably, either. The movie is what it is, something that you can throw on and watch on some lazy Sunday afternoon while you turn off your brain for 90 minutes. If it comes on television, give it a watch. If you’ve got an extra dollar or two, go ahead and rent it and then you can make the decision about whether or not you want to add it to your permanent collection.

7/10