Orange County (2002) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

This movie was created by some of the greatest movie names ever assembled: Hanks, Spacek, Kasdan. Unfortunately, their contribution was reproductory. The film stars Colin Hanks (Tom's boy) and Schuyler Fisk (Sissy Spacek's daughter), and was directed by Jake Kasdan (Lawrence's son). Ben Stiller, already a bigger star than his father Jerry, also adds to the second generation team.

It should be good, right? Well, it isn't great but, yes, it is pretty damned good. It does suffer from a complete lack of originality - high achiever fails to get into Stanford because his high school guidance counselor sends out the wrong transcript, hilarity is supposed to ensue. Eventually he decides to go to Stanford to explain the situation. If you overlook the stale premise, however, there's a lot of fun here.

My favorite schtick involves the high school English teacher who tries just a bit too hard to bring high-falutin' literature to the unwashed high school masses.

teacher: Now we're gonna discuss Romeo and Juliet. Who do we think of when we hear that term?

student: Claire Danes.

teacher: Yes, who else.

another student: Leonardo Dicaprio?

teacher: Yes, anyone else? Well there is another name associated with that play who is almost as famous, in his own way, as Leonardo Dicaprio. I'm talking about William Shakespeare, and some great movies are made from his writing - Hamlet, West Side Story, Waterworld, The Talented Mr Ripley, Chocolat ....

Another time, the teacher suggests that J.D. Salinger can be likened to Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, because they wrote a great masterpiece, Good Will Hunting, then never wrote again.

Despite the fact that MTV produced this movie, there was some funny, intelligent, truthful material sprinkled through this film. In many ways, it reminded me of the insightful movies that Cusack and Broderick made when they were kids. Its interweaving of conventional "teen movie" material with absurdist humor, surrealism and insightful warmth reminded me of the Cusack classic "Better off Dead".

And how many teen films with stoner and surfer jokes discuss (intelligently!) the inherently conflicted relationship between writers and their places of origin, like Joyce, Faulkner, and Tolstoy? Ultimately the kid has to face the following questions. Isn't Orange County, including his crazy family and friends, all part of what makes him what he is? Should he leave that to go to Stanford? Would William Faulkner have written A Light in August if he had left the South for good at age 18 in order to study at Cambridge? Those are intelligent questions that involve the youthful audience in the actual process of thinking and coming to grips with genuine feelings (gasp!).

Don't worry about some of the bad reviews. Don't forget this film was made partially to piss off  reviewers and third-rate English teachers and anyone who likes Matt Damon or Leonardo Dicaprio. That's not a strategy guaranteed to win points from the same reviewers who think Good Will Hunting is a genuine, believable story.

This is only Jake Kasdan's second film, and I like them both very much. (The other is Zero Effect, with Bill Pullman and Ben Stiller as a modern Holmes and Watson.). Orange County would be remembered as a classic if it had been made in 1972, but thirty years later it is too derivative and familiar to be hailed as genius. But it is still a pleasant experience which rises above genre fare. Anyway, Kasdan is still barely out of boyhood. Give him time. He should be a good one with a truly independent voice.