Orange County (2002)

Directed by Jake Kasdan. Starring Colin Hanks, Jack Black, Schuyler Fisk, Catherine O’Hara, John Lithgow, Harold Ramis, Kyle Howard, RJ Knoll, Kevin Kline, Jane Alexander, Lily Tomlin, Leslie Mann, Carly Pope. [PG-13]

SoCal high-schooler Hanks desperately wants to be a writer, and in his mind, doing so requires him to attend Stanford University where his scribe idol (Kline) teaches, but when his counselor (Tomlin) sends them the school board the wrong transcript and he’s rejected, he hightails it to the campus with his perpetually-stoned brother (Black) and girlfriend (Fisk) to convince the dean (Ramis) to change his mind. Slight but periodically funny comedy takes aim at a lot of easy OC targets (dim-witted surfers, negligent parents who have the help take care of kids, etc.); only works in fits and starts, much like Black’s character, who can be very funny one moment and then a tiresome albatross ‘round the neck the next. Even at less than an hour-and-a-half, the film runs out of steam long before the finish, and then makes the grave mistake during the last act to get serious and try unearthing a moral or two. Hearing a little Brian Wilson on the soundtrack was a no-brainer, but don’t watch this one without earplugs since they also trot out Crazy Town’s risible “Butterfly” multiple times. Loaded with familiar faces in supporting roles, including bit parts for Garry Marshall and Dana Ivey, plus cameos from Ben Stiller, Mike White, Chevy Chase, and more.

51/100