The Oranges

I saw this movie with zero previous knowledge and it really impressed me. Two neighbouring families in New Jersey (in an area known as The Oranges because the cities there all have the term Orange in their names -- hence the title of the movie) live harmonically next to each other. The children have grown up together, the men go jogging together, they celebrate the holidays together. They have normal problems -- one daughter doesn't seem to get on with her life, the other plans to marry a deadbeat, then breaks up with him because she caught him cheating on her. Her meddling mother wants to hook her up with their neighbour's A-student son, but the wayward daughter opts for his dad (played by Hugh Laurie) instead. Actually, a plausible choice at that point. She's fed up with college boys, needs stability, and they do care for each other. Her new manfriend feels rejuvenated since his marriage has been in the doldrums for some time. After the unlikely lovebirds have kissed, and even before their first date in a no-tell-motel, their budding affair is exposed. And a lot of hell breaks loose.

The movie plays out a conundrum scenario. On the one hand, there's nothing wrong with an loving relationship between two consenting adults, right? Nina, the girl hooking up with her family guy neighbour, says it herself in one scene: "But what if there was no wrong? ... There is no wrong." On the other hand, the very proximity between all persons involved turns against the love affair between Nina and David (family guy). David's daughter feels this most acutely: she doesn't want to become a nagging moralizer for family values. On the other hand, she doesn't want her former schoolmate Nina to become her new stepmom either.

I find this a great movie about an interesting moral dilemma.

This movie is categorized as comedy, drama and romance and fails in all three IMHO. Let's start with the tag lines: there's no sex whatsoever and it's about to get juicy but it never does, reckon that according to your preferences. As a comedy it delivers few smiles and even less laughs. The drama side goes a bit better if nothing else for the ever worried look of David (Laurie), a middle aged husband who could be attractive only to girls in desperate need of a father figure.Unfortunately the drama part is also predictable and without sparkles.Finally the romance: very little dwelled upon and without any surprise. If i haven't been harsher in voting it's because of the actors' effort, in particular Alia Shawkat (perfect in the role of the incredibly obnoxious Vanessa) and Adam Brody (my favorite scene is when he's back from China and discovers the "scandal")

¨I'm your ex girlfriend's boyfriend's wife.¨

I'd rather sit through an hour long episode of Dr. House, The OC, or Gossip Girl rather than watch this film starring some of the actors from the above mentioned series. The Oranges was directed by Julian Farino, who I had never heard of before this film. I actually went to see this film because I thought it had an interesting cast. The biggest flaw of The Oranges was its screenplay; written by Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss. The dramedy never quite manages to feel authentic and everything felt like a complete farce. The dialogue in this film felt very light considering the subject matter and the comedic moments weren't effective. The relationships didn't feel real either, although I must admit that the friendship between Laurie's character and Platt's was probably the strongest thing about this movie. Beside the three TV stars: Hugh Laurie, Leighton Meester, and Adam Brody, the film also stars Allison Janney and Catherine Keener whom I always thought looked very much alike. These are all very likable actors, but they were given some really underdeveloped characters and the film never really rang true to me. Other films have tackled this subject matter in much better ways. Examples that come to mind for me are The Graduate and American Beauty, but this movie doesn't even come close to what those films achieved. Despite how much I wanted to like this movie because of the actors, I had a hard time watching this. I would pick any of their television series over this film anytime.

The film focuses on the relationship between two Jersey families. On the one hand, we have David (Hugh Laurie) and Paige Walling (Catherine Keener) who have two children: Vanessa (Alia Shawkat) and Toby (Adam Brody), and then we are introduced to their neighbors, the Ostroff's, consisting of Terry (Oliver Platt) and Carol (Allison Janney). Terry and David have been best friends for a long time, and their families get together often. The Ostroff's have a daughter named Nina (Leighton Meester) who decides to return home after five years for the Holidays. Her presence will change things when she falls in love with David. The two begin seeing each other and it has a tremendous effect on both families. Nina convinces David that there are no rules to happiness, but at the same time his decision affects everyone around him. When Paige finds out about this relationship she confronts David and soon everyone's life is affected by this relationship.

The film doesn't seem to take sides on the moral issue, but it doesn't ever feel like it takes things seriously either. The entire film felt like a complete waste of time. The relationship between David and Nina never felt authentic and there was no chemistry whatsoever between them. The film really suffers from a poor script and the likable actors aren't enough to save this film. The narration of the film didn't work for me either and I felt like it was simply used to simplify things. The question the film seems to be raising is whether it is really worth doing whatever makes you happy without measuring the consequences and how it can affect the rest of the people around you. At first it seems as if it agrees with this premise, but later their consequences catch up with them. Some characters seem to be better off, but things never remain the same. I think I am getting a little too philosophical for a film that really didn't take itself too seriously, but I definitely felt that something was completely off with The Oranges. It is an awkward film and one I wouldn't recommend.

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Not my favourite film, but I was expecting something worse, to be honest. What I saw:

An enjoyable Hugh Laurie, as usual (yet not exceptional). Funny moments, at times. Some cringe-worthy dialogues. Nice directing. Impressively realistic. Thoughtprovoking, which certainly is its strongest feature.

I guess one of the main goals of a filmmaker is to make their audience FEEL things. Well, I honestly can say they did it. Most of them were awkward and negative feelings towards the relationship between these two, but they were there. Is that what they were aiming at? I don't know. I was disgusted by them, and angry. How can you so selfishly base your every decision on whatever seems to make you happy? And by the way, what's with the meddlesome mother? Your daughter's 24 not 18. Anyway, it's only 90 minutes long. Watch it if you have some free time and nothing else worth pressing play on.

In the conservative West Orange, New Jersey, the Ostroff and Walling families are very close to each other. David Walling (Hugh Laurie) and Terry Ostroff (Oliver Platt) are inseparable best friends and they use to run together everyday. David has problems with his wife Paige (Catherine Keener) and he frequently sleeps alone in the office. Their daughter Vanessa (Alia Shawkat) is a frustrated young woman since she was not well succeeded in her career of designer and their son Toby (Adam Brody) is moving to China in a temporary assignment. Terry's wife Cathy (Allison Janney) ignores him and their daughter Nina (Leighton Meester) moved to San Francisco five years ago.

Near the Thanksgiving, Nina's boyfriend Ethan (Sam Rosen) betrays her in her birthday party and Nina returns to the house of her parents. Nina has frictions with her mother and she stays close to David. Soon they have an affair and fall in love with each other, turning the lives of people close to them upside-down.

"The Oranges" is an original movie about rules, happiness and selfishness. The story shows how selfish people are in an unusual situation that does not follow the establishment. Paige is estranged from David and they are living in separate beds, keeping up appearances. But when David finds a young woman that brings happiness to his life, she has very selfish attitudes instead of divorcing him. Vanessa is a frustrated woman and when she sees the happiness of her father, she never tries to understand and supports him. Ethan is a complete douchebag and Leighton Meester is an adorable young woman. The reaction of Nina's parents is what the viewer would expect from the parents. The conclusion is decent and well resolved. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Filha do Meu Melhor Amigo" ("The Daughter of My Best Friend")