| Paramount Pictures - MTV Films - Scott Rudin Productions, 2002 | Runtime: 82 minutes | Rated PG-13 |
| Starring Colin Hanks, Schuyler Fisk, Jack Black, Catherine O'Hara, John Lithgow | ||
| Written by Mike White | Directed by Jake Kasdan | |
Shaun Brumder lives in a world where everyone is a lot dumber than he is. Shaun lives in a world where everyone is much less mature than he is. Shaun is sane in a world where everyone else is completely crazy. Shaun Brumder lives in Orange County.
In "Orange County," the sophomore directorial effort from Jake Kasdan (son of Larry Kasdan), the place in question is portrayed as a sort of asylum where the hero, Shaun (Colin Hanks), is the lone person who has an intelligence level above that of a twelve-year-old. Take his family for instance: his mother (Catherine O'Hara) is a drunk who married for money twice and now has a senile husband (George Murdock) who looks to be about three times her age; his brother, Lance (Jack Black), is a loser druggie who wanders around the house usually wearing little more than a pair of underwear (it is of great curiosity whether or not Lance actually showers, ever). Or take his friends, Arlo and Chad (Kyle Howard and R.J. Knoll), archetypal surfers who enjoy jumping off stuff and blowing stuff up. Or take his girlfriend, Ashley (Schuyler Fisk), a compulsively positive animal freak who goes out of her way to save any animal in any kind of danger. Or take his school's faculty, which consists of an english teacher (screenwriter Mike White) who Shaun suspects is illiterate (when the teacher asks who comes to mind when you hear "Romeo and Juliet," he acknowledges that the correct answer is Claire Daines) and a principal (Chevy Chase) who would rather have Britney Spears speak at graduation than have Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison.
Shaun himself wants to get out of Orange County as soon as is humanly possible and so he applies he Stanford University in hopes to work with his favorite author, Marcus Skinner (Kevin Kline). He is told he is a shoe-in for Stanford, but to his surprise, he is rejected, only to find out that the transcript that was sent to Stanford was not his, but that of a very dumb student with a similar name who applied to Stanford as a joke. However, through an interesting connection, Shaun has the oppurtunity to talk with a member of the board at Stanford (Garry Marshall), only to be completely humiliated by his family and rejected once more from Stanford University. The Garry Marshall character is so disgusted that he declares to Shaun, “You’ll never go to Stanford, as long as I have a breath in my body.”
And so Shaun has succeeded at accomplishing the amazing feat of being rejected from Stanford University twice in one day. After nearly drowning in his pool (most likely on purpose), Shaun gets from Lance the idea to drive up to Stanford and explain his situation to the Dean of Admissions (Harold Ramis). Unfortunately, Shaun’s plans are fouled up once more when the Dean mistakes Lance’s ecstasy for aspirin. Matters are made much worse when Lance burns down the admissions building after getting high with Mona the secretary (Jane Adams). Shaun, horribly depressed and disillusioned, meets a girl who’s reading something by Faulkner. She’s just reading it for class, obviously. She says she finds Faulkner kind of boring. And when she says that she may just go the easy route and get the Cliff Notes, Shaun puts a look on his face that makes it seem as if he wants to kill her.
“Orange County” should not be looked at as another ridiculous teen comedy. It is true that this movie contains some scenes that dabble in gross-out comedy, but it is also quirkier than any of the recent teen movies. It tries not to stress realism, rather it creates more of an unusual world for its characters. “Orange County” doesn’t take itself very seriously, and here that’s a good thing. This is a light comedy, containing characters and situations that are nowhere near normal. The movie knows that, and uses it for making itself very funny.
“Orange County” is an interesting movie because its director and stars have talent in their genes. The movie is directed by Jake Kasdan, son of Lawrence Kasdan, who directed “The Big Chill” and “Mumford” among others. It is also in Colin Hanks, son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, and Schuyler Fisk, daughter of Sissy Spacek and Jack Fisk. The movie also contains some great comic royalty; making appearances are Chevy Chase, Ben Stiller, Kevin Kline, Lily Tomlin, Harold Ramis, Jane Adams, and Garry Marshall. No wonder this is such as funny movie.
I didn’t get what I’d expected when I watched “Orange County” for the first time. I thought I would see an hour and a half of Jack Black wandering around in his underwear and making an ass of himself. I got some of that, but I also got some very creative and funny comedy. Maybe this means that the Hollywood offspring in “Orange County” may be able to have some fruitful careers of their own. Mom and dad should be proud.
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