DisOrientation

DisOrientation - love the odd capitalization - is aimed at college kids and those of us who never grew up. Its core audience will like it, probably quite a bit. It's certainly better than most big-budget raunch films out there today, even with its unlikely plot. Or probably because of it. There's a lot of barfing, there is drug use, precious little nudity, and plenty of laughs.

Finn (Eric Toms) is a longtime college student who rarely goes to class. He's also run through several roommates over the years, ostensibly because his wild antics drive them away. The resident assistant despises him. So do his professors. He spends most days at the only bar in town that opens before noon. He's the ne'er-do-wells to end all ne'er-do- wells.

His new roomie is Toby (Todd Gaebe), a teen prodigy who would make Wormser from the Revenge of the Nerds movies look like Ruby Rhod from The Fifth Element. Toby is terrified of everything, especially his dad (Richard Moll), who doesn't understand his brainy offspring much at all. Finn doesn't help matters by essentially making Toby sleep under the bed while he (Finn) brings home college girl after college girl. It's a scarring experience.

Since this is a comedy, we can rest assured that all will turn out well in the end, and it doesn't matter that we know that. We expect there to be some sort of reconciliation between the two (one makes the other less wild, one makes the other less timid). He expect a growing of character, if not outright development. And we expect some climactic scene in which bad guys, probably jocks, are outplayed in some fashion. We are not disappointed.

Toms is the one who holds it all together. The effortless charm is at just the right level. Too much of it, and a character seems smarmy, self-promoting, and unappealing. Not enough of it, and the character can just disappear into the scenery, not something you want your lead to do. Toms manages to make Finn be both likable and unlikeable. He accomplishes this by being funny, getting the most out of writer Charles Price's script.

The movie is low budget, surprising because of the multitude of songs on the soundtrack. And yet each song is well chosen and adds to a scenes atmosphere, rather than distracting from it. Sure, occasionally one is used for a montage - a staple of this kind of movie - but that's the exception. Regardless, the movie doesn't feel like a low-budget movie at all. It has the look and feel of a studio film, if that studio had any idea about how to make a funny college-kids movie.

DisOrientation doesn't waste time with a complicated plot and wisely lets Toms (and Gaebe) carry the load. The movie is endearing, sure (all college-kids movies must have some heart), but it's also terrifically disgusting and hilarious. The drinking contest alone is a minor comedy gem.

This film essentially begins with a 30-year-old man by the name of "Finn" (Eric Toms) continuing his college education--like the previous 11 years before that--with no other thought than chasing female students and getting wasted on alcohol or drugs. In short, Finn is a loser who cannot bear the prospect of ever growing up. However, as fate would have it, this time around he is forced to share his dorm room with a student named "Toby MacKenzie" (Todd Gaebe) who has just turned 15 and needs a mentor to help him adjust to college life. To that effect, Finn takes Toby under his wing and decides to teach him everything he knows, which, other than getting drunk and subsequently rejected by most college girls, is practically nothing at all. Things change, however, when they meet a college bully named "Landon" (Darrel Chaney) who, after humiliating Finn, inadvertently gives him a reason to exist--by getting even with him one way or another. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film was one of those low-budget college movies which basically followed the same standard plot as so many others that have already preceded it. The only difference is that this film was extremely crude and featured rather bad acting--especially on the part of Todd Gaebe. That being said, if you like crude humor and bad acting, then this comedy is just for you. But everyone else might want to consider avoiding it altogether.

It's nice when the German distribution gives you a summary line ... which they used as title for this movie! I kid you not. But let's not get ahead of ourselves (something the movie does quite a few times). I did expect it to be worse than it actually was. There even was one scene where I had to laugh out loud ("why do you have a video of your parents..." is all I'm going to say, you'll know the scene, when it comes up).

Apart from that it's the usual: a guy who's too old to still be in "school", gets a roommate who acts like he's 16 (weird glasses and all) and completely naive. They are actually both fish out of water types. You know where this is heading, some immature jokes (nudity, puking and much more) ensue and we are well on our way. There is a lot of heart in this, even it's most silly moments. Doesn't make it great, but might make you chuckle once or twice, especially if you're in the mood

DisOrientation is a college comedy that borrows heavily from Ryan Reynolds' turn as the titular Van Wilder but with a cocaine habit and less charm. Just like Van Wilder, our hero, Finn takes an geeky freshman under his wing who is far too awkward to be believable. A token black friend, who is literally referred to as such for a laugh, also drifts in and out but as he has nothing of importance to say or do that joke really falls flat.

Typical of this genre, our heroes are tormented by a group of stereotypical alpha male bullies who rack up the majority of the profanity in the script. This also fails to amuse as the insults they hurl sound like the stuff nine year old boys would construct out of ignorance. The rest of the film is a mildly funny pastiche of seemingly endless vomit gags and less than the appropriate amount of nudity that a sub par script of this genre would normally require. The movie does end with a legitimately funny, homo- erotic prank which I caught while channel flipping. It was enough to make me set a recording for the next airing which turned out to be a waste of time.

A very outrageous and unrelenting film. Saw this at a midnight screening at the most awesome Dances with Films Film festival and there is no words to describe this film. It is raunchy, extreme, politically incorrect, insulting, trashy (to say a few) and other words such as "genius" fall short in describing it. You must see it to believe it and as you watch, remember to breathe cause its filled with laugher non-stop right up till the end. In an era where comedies are made a dime a dozen, Disorientation is a part of that new breed of extreme cinema. A breed that holds no punches and its all up in your face disregarding any consequence or lasting impression it may have on its audience. If you hear or see of this film playing anywhere, seek it out. Make sure you watch on an empty stomach or else your will be projectile vomiting your meal onto some poor unsuspecting cinephile sitting next to you. I give the filmmakers kudos for such an impressive work of art...it is so refreshing to see folks who understand the power of film and who are willing to take it where others are afraid to go. If Porky's was the sexy raunchy comedy of the 80's, Disorientation is the Porky's for the new millennium.