Movies Jan. 31, 2008 -- Unexpected, yet predictable...

When I sat down to watch this movie, several things came to mind; more specifically, several aspects of Orange County's ad campaign. Based on what I had seen and remembered, Orange County was going to be a "buddy" movie about a guy named Shaun Brumder (Colin Hanks) and his shitty, lovable, screw-up brother Lance (Jack Black). The television ads also laid claim to the first time I had ever heard a Cake song used to promote any film. This let me know that the movie wasn't just going to attempt to be funny, it was going to try to be relevant. Holy shit.

It was then that the opening credits hit and suddenly I was confused. "Mike White wrote this?" I thought, "Okay, maybe this can be good."

Then came a second surprise. It turned out Jack Black was only one of many actors to form the supporting cast for the movie; hardly the central figure they made him out to be in the ads. This was not the "buddy" film the studios had tried so hard to sell me after all. In fact, if anyone was Shaun's buddy, it was his girlfriend Ashley (Schuyler Fisk).

Though she's written to be a bit two dimensional - who in this movie isn't? - she is probably the most supportive teen girlfriend ever created for the screen who was not subsequently cheated on. It is also worth mentioning that though the character doesn't offer much, Fisk does a tremendous job making her extremely likable.

Back to the movie.

So by now I'm well into the film and it's basically the same old story: kid gets screwed out of going to the college of his choice - hilarity ensues. To his credit though, Mike White and director Jake Kasdan do put their own touches here and there - with a little help from their friends, of course.

The funeral at the beginning of the movie is pretty funny. The inclusion of a few girls in black bikinis at the surfer's wake is a particularly nice touch.

John Lithgow as Shaun's father has some amazing dialogue in the beginning of the film. My favorite being his response when he learns his son wants to be a writer: "What do you have to write about? You're not oppressed! You're not gay!"

Another bonus is an appearance by Harold Ramis. (Can I just say that I love that Egon keeps turning up in things? It's delightful!) He has some brilliant moments as the Dean of Admissions at Stanford.

I'll even go so far as to say that if you sift through the crap, you'll actually find a decent message in the film. White parallels Shaun's crappy high school experience with his "desired" college life in a way that can only truly be appreciated by those who have experienced the haunting truth which he depicts. The message seems clear, you can't run from who you are, and if you think college is going to launch you away from the stupidity of high school - think again.

Unfortunately the movie gets in its own way by force-feeding a completely DIFFERENT message to its audience in one of the most heavy-handed scenes I've ever watched. Shaun finally meets his literary idol Marcus Skinner (Kevin Kline) - only to be told that the moral of the whole movie is to stay where he is because he loves his family. This is a complete turn from everything we've seen and heard from Shaun for the entire movie and for me it rings false. It rings particularly false because Skinner gets all of this from Shaun's short story, which the audience never hears.

Add to it that way too much happens during the twenty-four hour period in which the bulk of the movie takes place - even for a comedy. And top it off with a crappy ending complete with "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World and you've got your bland, carbon-copy, teen comedy right there.

Basically, the movie isn't very good. Most of the film is not paced very well, it's predictable, it doesn't offer much if anything that is new to the genre, and the style is nothing to speak of. Orange County does boast some moments of truth and a couple good laughs, but for my money, there are better teen comedies out there.

(And for those of you playing at home: Yes, that was Undeclared's Monica Keena as Gretchen the "intelligent" and sexy co-ed Shaun meets at Stanford.)

82 min. Directed by: Jake Kasdan. MTV Films

Rated: PG-13

If You Liked This, You'd Probably Like: School of Rock (2004)!

- Clyde Masters