The Oranges

Director: Julian Farino
Writers: Jay Reiss, Ian Helfer
Starring: Leighton Meester, Hugh Laurie, Alia Shawkat
Release Date: TBA
Length: 1 hour 32 minutes

    Since the explosive success of the CW’s Gossip Girl, Leighton Meester has had big screen hits playing small roles in films like Date Night, Country Strong, and Monte Carlo. Her first official lead role was in the universally panned horror movie The Roommate, which garnered success from her teenage girl fan base. Meester takes on her official first adult lead role in first time director Julian Farino’s The Oranges. Having only finished editing the film a few days before, Farino premiered the film at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, and I was among the few in the theatre.

    The film tells the incredibly bizarre story of two families who have lived across the street from each other for years, the Ostroffs and the Wallings. David Walling (Hugh Laurie) and Terry Ostroff (Oliver Platt) are the best of friends, who go on jogs every morning and obsess over the latest piece of technology Terry introduces them to. Their wives Carol Ostroff (Alison Janey) and Paige Walling (Catherine Kenner) are also friends and Paige and David’s twenty something daughter Vanessa (Alia Shwakat) still lives with them. In contrast to Vanessa, Terry and Carol’s daughter, Nina (Meester) has been away from home for five years and decides to return to her parent’s house for Thanksgiving, after she catches her fiancé cheating on her. Her arrival brings a smile to the face of the Walling’s son Toby (Adam Brody), who has always liked her, while it annoys her once best friend Vanessa who dreams of leaving the small town like Nina. The well traveled, offbeat and self-centered Nina turns this idealic New Jersey neighbourhood upside down when she begins a romantic relationship with David, giving everybody in both families a slap in the face.

    With one of the most diversely hilarious casts of all time, and an exceptionally unusual premise, there are high expectations riding on the film directorial debut of TV director Julian Farino. The story written by Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss allows for much originality and humor in the script, mostly with the priceless reactions from everyone in the families. You honestly do not know what to expect in the plot, not really knowing how anyone would react to this situation. Although it may seem completely unrealistic, the affair between David and Nina comes off very natural and easily in the film. With the rocky marriage between David and his wife Paige, and the grown up sex appeal of Nina, who does not care for anyone but herself, the attraction is believable.

   However, as the romance grows, ruining David’s marriage and family, we begin to question wether the affair-turned-relationship is that realistic. It makes sense why the inconsiderate Nina would continue seeing David as she pleases, but we wonder how the seemingly sensible David, whose daughter was and is still bullied by Nina, is still captivated enough by Nina to continue this destructive relationship.

    Aside from the story, we are mostly won over by the overwhelmingly hilarious and talented cast. Starting off, Alison Janney and Oliver Platt make the perfect couple, who are more than a bit shocked by their daughter dating a very old friend of theirs. Platt’s humorous bewilderment to the relationship beautifully contrasts with Janney’s quite unsure reassurance to her husband.

    Catherine Keener is fantastic in her less funny role as a woman who faces a mid-life crisis once her husband starts seeing a twenty-three-year-old. Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat is very sardonically funny as our narrator Vanessa, an unhappy furniture salesperson that actually dreams of being a furniture designer. Adam Brody – most well known for his role on The O.C. - is also very amusing as a guy that comes home to see his childhood crush with his Dad.

    Unlike his cynical narcissitic role on House, Hugh Laurie plays a very timid and easily influenced man in The Oranges. He is awestruck by the young and attractive Nina who has an interest in him and has driven his attention away from his stressful marriage. Laurie is excellent as the film’s confused lead male role and shares a very strong chemistry with Leighton Meester. Meester is wonderful as the bored and immature young woman who enjoys being a detrimental femme fatale to the exhaustedly wooden families she is forced to visit. Being extremely funny and convincing as the film’s antagonist Nina Ostroff, Meester has officially departed from her once only teen audience.

    For the audience, The Oranges has a refreshing story but the originality wears off when we can no longer buy into the odd relationship. The cast makes up for that uncertainty you have with the film, making it a more often than not enjoyable movie experience. No promises, but if you let the cast take you there, you could very well end up enjoying The Oranges.