The Flipcritic: ORANGE COUNTY (**½)

ORANGE COUNTY (**½)

ORANGE COUNTY has gotten a lot of flak in the US for nepotism. If you know who some of its cast members are, along with its director, you might be inclined to agree. Colin Hanks is the son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson Hanks, Schuyler Fisk is the daughter of Sissy Spacek and Jack Fisk, while the director Jake Kasdan is the son of wonderful writer/director Lawrence Kasdan (Body Heat). I'm sure that if you have connections like those, you could get to be in a movie. But to a be a movie's lead requires talent, no matter how powerful your friends or family are.

Are these 2nd generation artists ready for the big time? I'm inclined to think so. The movie showcases Colin Hanks' and Schuyler Fisk's charm and talent, along with Jake Kasdan's sure-handed approach. These people have worked on other projects before, and this film heralds their arrival. I have to admit that I was impressed with the work they gave, especially since it hardly ever resorts to crass toilet humor for laughs. Yet something is missing. More on that later.

Colin Hanks plays a young man named Shaun Brumder. He's a smart and carefree teenage kid who loves to surf and spend time with his friends who are just as happy-go-lucky, but nowhere near as smart. After one of his friends dies in a freak accident, he comes across a novel half-buried in the beach. Y'know... one of those all-knowing, truth-revealing books that frees a young mind with its insight and originality. This one happens to be so good, he reads it more than five times (at one time weeps in its greatness). The novel's writer is Marcus Skinner (Kevin Kline of A FISH CALLED WANDA), whom Shaun admires so immensely that he writes a short story to the novelist as his acceptance letter into Stanford. His SAT scores are sky high, he's the class president, what could possibly go wrong?

Apparently, plenty. Shaun's encouraging yet highly apathetic guidance counselor (Lily Tomlin of NASHVILLE) mixes up his test scores with a mediocre student. He hasn't applied for any other college. He can't bear the thought of living with his protective alcoholic mother (Catherine O'Hara of HOME ALONE), his crippled stepfather, and most of all his pothead brother Lance (Jack Black of SHALLOW HAL). And his real father (John Lithgow of THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP) is reluctant to help him get into Stanford. How'd you like dem apples?

It's a good thing that Ashley (Schuyler Fisk), Shaun's girlfriend, loves him enough to try and figure ways out to get him to Stanford, even at the risk of losing him. And once Lance steps in with his laser-like but spaced-out focus to help his brother out, the movie's laughs really kick into high gear. This movie shares a lot traits with THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY and MEET THE PARENTS, where its protagonist tries desperately to achieve his goal, but is thwarted by twisted moments of fate.

Oh and does he try. Shaun angrily tries to reason with his counselor. Schuyler resorts to blackmail in getting a friend's uncle, a Stanford board member, to give Shaun an audience. Lance seduces an admissions officer but instead gets arson. The Dean of admissions accidentally gets doped. The list of absurdities go on. All throughout the movie I couldn't feel help but feel sorry for Shaun, yet at the same time, I couldn't help but laugh at the folly of it all.

As Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wisely observes, "The movie's cast looks like a roll call from the comedy hall of fame." You have Catherine O'Hara, John Lithgow (3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN), Harold Ramis (GHOSTBUSTERS), Chevy Chase (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE), Gary Marshall (comedic actor and director of PRETTY WOMAN and RUNAWAY BRIDE), Mike White (CHUCK AND BUCK) and a nice cameo from one our modern comedy heroes. All of these virtuosos fill in rich roles which make the story more memorable than it could have been.

As for the leads, they do good work. Colin Hanks is quite effective in drawing our pity as Shaun. As each of his plans are upset, we feel sorry for him, and root for him to push on. Schuyler Fisk is ok, and is probably one of the few blondes I've seen who doesn't depend on her looks to get by. But the real treat of Orange County is Jack Black. Seeing his character Lance all doped up and full of fervor in his mission to get Shaun into Stanford is priceless. He does everything wrong, but he really cares about his brother. And once Shaun has to come to his climactic decision, Lance helps him do the right thing.

Despite its strong characters, it's assured style (which must be credited to director Jake Kasdan), good spirit, and nice story, its comedy runs falters in the final third part of the film. It runs out of steam and settles for a fairly plain ending. I enjoyed the ride, but wanted a payoff, which I didn't get. I admired the way it was able to extend its premise longer than anyone could have possibly hoped for. But for me it wasn't enough. Nonetheless, its quite entertaining while it lasts, but it is missing something... a third act.

Posted by FLIPCRITIC at August 12, 2002 12:00 AM

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