It's
not just a place. It's a state of mind.
I find myself
a bit baffled by those who seem to have a strong
dislike for this film, including the esteemed TC
Candler. From my own
perspective, "Orange County" is a relatively
lightweight but moderately entertaining film
directed by Jake Kasdan from a script by Michael
White. White, who wrote this script prior to his
more popular and much more critically acclaimed
screenplays "School of Rock" and "The Good
Girl," did a better job of developing the
supporting characters than the leads here...but,
this sophomore feature effort was markedly
better than his film debut "Dead Man on Campus."
The film features a fairly decent appearance for
Colin Hanks (Tom's son), but he doesn't have
quite the screen presence yet to pull off a film
alongside the likes of Jack Black, Schuyler
Fisk, John Lithgow and supporting players like
Lily Tomlin and Chevy Chase. Strongest here is
undoubtedly Black, who gives a strong indication
of his comic timing and presence. Unfortunately,
he sort of comes off like a blue collar John
Belushi here...and as we've learned from later
roles Black is much better than that.
So, it's not a remarkable film, by any means.
Yet, this lightweight comedy avoids cheap laughs
and still manages to get a few laughs along the
way. I enjoyed it, and wouldn't avoid it on late
night cable.
©
Written by Richard
Propes
TC Candler's Comment
This is quite
simply the flattest comedy I have ever had to
labor through. My face hurt from frowning
so much. I can honestly say that I didn't
even giggle once. Not once! I didn't
crack even the slightest smile. In fact,
the film made me mad with its utter ineptness.
I hate this film for being the biggest waste of
my time in recent memory. What makes it
even worse is the way in which the film carries
itself... so proud and boastful of its alleged
brilliance. One gets the feeling that the
entire cast thought they were in the next great
comedy classic. The fact is that this is
the worst comedy I have ever seen... there
weren't even any unintentional laughs.
Utter drek. Frankly, I am baffled that
anyone would forgive this film its smugness and
unskilled execution.
Jacob
Hall's Comment
N/A
