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A wildly dysfunctional family is just one of the obstacles confronting a sensitive high school senior in the fast-paced teen comedy Orange County. Shaun Brumder (Colin Hanks) is a college-bound aspiring writer whose plans to attend Stanford and escape his uninspiring upper-middle-class surroundings are derailed when his school counselor sends in the wrong transcript. Shaun's drunken mother (Catherine O'Hara) and stoned brother (Jack Black) complicate his desperate attempts to rectify the mistake, while his workaholic father (John Lithgow) provides scant moral support. Orange County arrives with an interesting pedigree: Colin Hanks is the Tom Hanks's son; co-star Schuyler Fisk (Shaun's girlfriend) is Sissy Spacek's daughter; director Jake Kasdan (Zero Effect) is the son of writer-director Lawrence Kasdan. These tinseltown links translate into a plethora of strong cameo roles, including bits from Chevy Chase, Ben Stiller, Lily Tomlin, and Harold Ramis. The film has loads of light-hearted humor and the plot moves along at a satisfyingly brisk clip. And while leads Hanks and Fisk remain coolly tranquil amid the chaos, it's the supporting cast that distinguishes Orange County. O'Hara, Black, and Lithgow deliver demented charm that keeps their scenes working, and the whole affair is crowned by Kevin Kline's engagingly dead-pan performance as the author Brumder idolizes. Ultimately, there is a lot of typical teen humor in Orange County. Yet, despite the sex, drugs, and rock and roll, it comes with a PG-13 rating. Expect nothing more or less than some good clean fun. Gregory Baird

All Movie Guide

Some cast and crew from NBC's highly acclaimed, little-seen series Freaks and Geeks reunite for this teen comedy that also marks the first starring role for Tom Hanks' son, Colin. The younger Hanks plays Shaun Brumder, a high schooler eager to propel himself out of the land of surf bums and ranch homes to which the film's title refers. He's had his sights set on Stanford ever since he read the works of professor Marcus Skinner (Kevin Kline), and his transcript is stellar enough to gain him admission. Shaun is understandably furious, then, when he receives a rejection letter in the mail; after some detective work on his part, he realizes that his flaky counselor (Lily Tomlin) mistakenly sent the university the wrong papers. It's up to him to get to Stanford within 24 hours to set the record straight -- literally -- and he enlists the help of his slacker brother Lance (Jack Black) to do so. Orange County co-stars Catharine O'Hara and John Lithgow as Shaun and Lance's slightly unhinged parents; the film was directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Mike White, both of whom contributed to several episodes of Freaks and Geeks. Michael Hastings

Rolling Stone

A deft script by Mike White ... elevates the usual teen twaddle by grounding the laughs in feeling. Peter Travers

Chicago Sun-Times

One of those movies like Ghost World and Legally Blonde where the description can't do justice to the experience. Roger Ebert

Product Details

• UPC: 097363359241
• Source: PARAMOUNT
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital Surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Français
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 1:22:00
• Sales Rank: 5,814

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• 3 Movie Comedy Collection
• School of Rock & Orange County
• School of Rock/Orange County

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