Orange County

Orange County is a fine example of why nepotism can be dangerous. Colin Hanks has little discernible talent and the female lead, who I guess is Sissy Spacek's daughter, in neither attractive or a good actress. I rented this movie because I think Jack Black is hilarious. For this atrocity, though, he should be ashamed. The commercials for this movie were funnier than the actual movie. I can't think of one time during the entire film that I actually laughed. The cast was lame and the script was poorly written, which is ironic because it's a movie about a supposedly brilliant writer tying to get into Stanford. I don't know what college the writer of this film went to, but if i had to guess, it would probably have "community" somewhere in its name. If you want to see a good coming of age comedy, see Dazed and Confused.

One could spend an afternoon of entertainment on IMDb reading all the reviews below for this excrescence and guessing which ones were written by a) studio plants, b) friends of the Hanks family. This movie has "called-in favors" written all over it. Cronies of Tom Hanks, and anyone famous who owed him five bucks, from the looks of it, could have their debts forgiven if they appeared in this failed effort to launch son Colin Hanks film career. This is the tripe Hollywood produces when untalented people are told they are talented. To perversely underscore the movies unintended, super-amplified "danger of nepotism" message, it's directed by the son of Lawrence Kasdan. The big ending where Colin decides to bail on college (the motivation you were supposed to care about for the duration of the film!) might seem like a viable message to someone who owes his ability to get the lead role in a film to the influence of his famous parents. Instead of being poignant, the switcharoo is a self-critique delivered by Colin Hanks about the worthlessness of achievements you didn't actually earn. That conclusion might make an undeserving shill feel swell, but after an hour and a half of pained "drama-dy" it's the final indictment of the cluelessness of all involved. The genetic mix of Tom Hanks doughy average features superimposed over Mrs. Hanks horsey mandibles is the story of genetics struggling to appear photogenic. Colin Hanks has zero presence and his visual ordinariness is the constant reminder that he in no way deserves this tailor-made movie. No surprise that they chose to cover most of his face with oranges, on the poster. Maye you thought someone else was the star. As you watch this movie, keep in mind the throngs of talented unknowns, who might have deserved this much exposure. Does Catherine O'Hara ever know what the hell she is doing on film? (See her heinous perf in Home Fries, the actual worst movie ever made) Jack Black became an official sell-out with this movie.

Colin Hanks stars in "Orange County," a teen comedy revolving around an aspiring teenaged-wannabe-writer, living in Orange County, and how he must cope with the fact that his college advisor may have ruined his chances of getting into a good college. There are many star cameos in this film, and that is perhaps one good aspect of the film. I won't ruin them, but I'll name at least Chevy Chase and John Lithgow. The film does resort to gross-out humor at times, which is quite disappointing, but it never goes below-the-belt to American Pie humor, which is at least comforting in some aspects. See the movie. You may like it. 3/5 stars - John Ulmer

** 1/2 Starring: Colin Hanks, Schuyler Fisk, Jack Black, and Catherine O' Hara. A smart teenager's transcript is switched with the wrong guy, and when it's sent to Stanford, guess who gets accepted. That's right, the guy who didn't even apply there. The over-achieving genius and his drug-addicted brother travel to Stanford to get things straight and get him into college. Jack Black and Colin Hanks do the best they can to make this blue comedy funny. When I say it's blue in comedy, I mean it lacks it. The movie has a funny plot and funny cameos, but it isn't funny enough to give the film three stars. It's close, but not quite.

Wow, what a pile of crap and here I thought it would be good, I wonder where I got that from? Maybe coz Jack Black is in it, and as usual he is very good, but man the film is complete shit, boring, cliched, and every other negative word you can think of. Well i'm disappointed because it has a rather good cast, but it's wasted in this mess. Believe me don't see this, maybe the most unintelligent movie i've seen in a long time!

When it comes to comedies, I like all sorts of movies. I tend to prefer comedies that contain wit, subtle humor, and generally comical situations instead of one-liners that aren't too over the top, sometimes stuff like Royal Tenenbaums, but also Grosse Point Blank type stuff. I like classic comedies ("Animal House"), slapsticky stage-to-screen stuff ("Noises Off"), and even low brow comedies, such as Wet Hot American Summer, which was over the top, yet did a nice job satirizing the typical 80's comedy and it's absurdity. But dear God, I have no room for the utter stupidity and lameness that is Orange County. I like Jack Black, but let's face it--the guy has no middle ground. He's either in great movies and is great in them, or is in horrible movies and is horrible in them. But he didn't have much to work with in this one. His character was one of the most irritating ones I've seen on screen in a long time. The premise was stupid to begin with--a very dumb 'intelligent' guy (how's that for an oxymoron) is convinced he needs to leave home to start his life anew and make something of himself. Can't say I blame him with all the idiots in his life, either. The movie was way too absurd to be funny. For those of you who say that was the point, I like absurd comedies. I love Cannibal: The Musical and Wet Hot American Summer because while both went over the top in their goofiness, both movies were clever at times, and satirical or spoofy at others, and when they were mindless, they were so hilarious that you didn't care. And a lot of their jokes were SUBTLE...and when they weren't, they were still funny. This movie satirizes or spoofs nothing well, isn't clever, and the absurd bits are so over the top and stupid that it ruins the joke. Some people need to know that subtlety can take humor farther in comedic situations than screaming and yelling, and having general chaos explode in every scene. There are limits to how over the top you can go, and movies like these insult the audiences. You can't even sit through this movie knowing it's mere entertainment and enjoy it. Every joke seemed to rival one that you'd find on the current incarnation of Saturday Night Live (which is not saying much), and it's humor generally resulted in our lead character getting buried in a frustrating situation, and chaos ensuing, whether it be the grandpa banging on the door after not getting his pills, or Jack Black's "pee" being served and him crawling out in his underwear. All tired, cliched attempts at "humor" that fall flat. If this is all it takes to make people laugh, then good lord, standards have fallen. Avoid this movie like the plague. I only went to see this movie to pass two hours until a new release came out at Virgin Megastore, but I still was p***ed after leaving the theatre that I had to sit through something THIS unfunny.

I have seen the movie Orange County,brace your self,4 times!I saw it the day it came out,the next day(saturday),and the next day on Sunday twice!It may sound obsessive but I loved that movie.It has a great cast,plot,screenplay,characters,and outline.It stars my all time favorite actor the son of the wonderful Tom Hanks,Colin Hanks,also jack black,catherine o` hara,john lithgow,and schuyler fisk.It also has many camio`s by Ben Stiller,Kevin Kline,Chevy Chase,and lily tomlin.It is a light hearted movie with so many great laughs that will leave you on the floor and cracking-up.It does not have those gross jokes only one or two.The acting is very good and by the end of the movie you will love all the characters.I hope that you will enjoy this movie and not put in down like all the critics have.ORANGE COUNTY ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!