Review by Les Winan

It tries so hard. You can just feel the movie reaching. Reaching for American Pie, reaching for Road Trip, reaching for nearly every other successful teen/gross-out comedy of the past 20 years. There's the loveable lead character, his faithful girlfriend, the wacky parents and adults, and, of course, the fat guy. Look! Fatty fall down! Ha, ha, ha. This is a tried and, often, true formula. Not in this case. Considering director Jake Kasdan's first film, The Zero Effect, Orange County is a disappointing follow-up. While it doesn't completely miss the mark, it's quite a few laughs from being good.

A young Hollywood film in every way, Orange County boasts an interesting cast of famous people in cameos and famous people's children. Jake Kasdan is the son of Lawrence, lead Colin Hanks is the son of Tom, and Schyler Fisk is the daughter of Sissy Spacek. Central Casting's fatty of choice is Jack Black, who is quite clearly the son of a space alien and a small bear. They clearly know Hollywood, and they clearly know what should work. It's just too bad that they started the film before they had more of the things that do.

The basic plot involves Hanks' character finding a book in the sand that inspires him to go to Stanford and study writing with the author. Naturally, something goes wrong with his application and he doesn't get admitted. Hanks begins a quest (not quite Frodo-esque, but a quest nonetheless) to fix the error, and, as always in films like this, high-jinks ensue.

While he's not exactly the spitting image of his father, Colin Hanks has annunciation and mannerisms that are frighteningly similar to Tom Hanks. That's not a bad thing; it's just a little jarring at times. Once you get used to the fact that you're not watching a bizarre Bachelor Party remake, Colin Hanks gives a capable performance. As Hanks' girlfriend, Schyler Fisk is fine, but unmemorable. Several of the bits and gags work well, mostly those involving Black and other members of Hanks' screen family.

The real highlights of the film are the supporting performances and cameos. As Hank's brother, Jack Black's variant on his High Fidelity character keeps the film moving, but the real standouts are John Lithgow and Catherine O'Hara as Hanks' and Black's parents, who are first-rate in what could otherwise be forgettable, underwritten roles. Which brings us to the real problem with the film: the lazy, unfunny script. A few of the gags work well, with Jack Black getting the most laughs. All the actors do the best with their roles, but that can't hide the fact that, despite a promising premise, there just isn't much witty or clever for them to work with.

The real shame is the obvious promise the film has. Every moment that you're watching it, you're painfully aware of what's missing, what could have been. In many ways, it's much like watching President Bush speak. Give the same cast another script, a little more money for production values, and a producer other than MTV Films, and it might be worth watching; it might even be good. But alas, when you leave the theater, you don't want to go to Orange County, much less see it again.