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Orange County
Orange County
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jake Kasdan
Written by	Mike White
Produced by	Scott Rudin
Starring	Colin Hanks; Jack Black; Catherine O'Hara; Schuyler Fisk; John Lithgow; Lily Tomlin;
Cinematography	Greg Gardiner
Edited by	Tara Timpone
Music by	Michael Andrews
Production; companies	MTV Films; Scott Rudin Productions
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	January 11, 2002;
Running time	82 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$18 million
Box office	$43.3 million

Orange County is a 2002 American comedy film starring Colin Hanks and Jack Black. It was released on January 11, 2002. The movie was distributed by Paramount Pictures and produced by MTV Productions and Scott Rudin. The movie was directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Mike White.

Plot

Shaun Brumder is intelligent but little interested in his education, leading a carefree SoCal lifestyle of surfing in affluent Orange County, California, drinking and partying. His best friend, Lonny, is killed in a surfing accident, causing Shaun to rethink his life. Finding a novel on the beach by Marcus Skinner, it inspires him to become a writer. Upon learning that Skinner is an English professor at Stanford University, Shaun makes it his goal to attend Stanford and study under him.

Shaun dramatically improves himself academically, obtaining high grades and SAT scores and becoming president of his graduating class. Following the advice of his guidance counselor, Ms. Cobb, Shaun applies only to Stanford. This backfires when he is rejected as Ms. Cobb mixed up his transcript with that of another student.

Reaching out to his wealthy father, Bud, who left his family for a younger woman, Shaun pleads with him to donate to Stanford to increase his chances of acceptance. Disapproving of his son's dream to become a writer, Bud refuses. Shaun's girlfriend, Ashley, convinces her friend, Tanya, to get Shaun an interview at his home by Tanya's grandfather, a Stanford board member. Unfortunately, the antics of Shaun's dysfunctional family members—his alcoholic, emotionally fragile mother, Cindy, and his dim-witted, stoner brother, Lance—cause Shaun's interviewers to storm out in disgust.

In a last-ditch effort, Ashley and Lance convince Shaun to drive to Palo Alto and plead his case directly to Stanford Admissions Director, Don Durkett. By the time they reach campus, the admissions building is closed. While Lance seduces the secretary on duty, Shaun and Ashley find Durkett's home address. There, Shaun impresses Durkett with his real transcript, but Durkett is reluctant to admit him so late in the admissions process.

After much groveling, Shaun convinces him to give it a second thought. Disaster strikes again when Ashley confuses Lance's MDMA, commonly referred to as Ecstasy (drug) for pain relievers, offering Durkett the pills for his headache, getting him high. Shaun, Ashley, and Durkett return to find the Admissions Building on fire, caused by Lance setting a list of new students on fire and throwing it in the trash. With Lance wanted for arson, they abandon Durkett and flee the scene.

Frustrated with Shaun's obsession, Ashley points out that his attending Stanford would likely mean the end of their relationship and she leaves. Depressed, Shaun wanders the campus and meets a female student who invites him to a frat party. He is disappointed to learn the Stanford students are just as vapid as teenagers from Orange County.

With a more cynical view of college, Shaun runs into Professor Skinner and is invited to his office. Shaun confides that he is afraid his dreams of being a good writer are over. Skinner reminds him that many famous authors such as James Joyce and William Faulkner grew up in places that were not intellectually stimulating, and were inspired by the conflicts in their own lives. Having an epiphany, Shaun realizes his misguided intentions and apologizes to Ashley. They pick up Lance, still hiding from police, and go home.

In Orange County, Shaun's parents seek out each other to deal with Shaun's problem. They reconcile, realizing they are much happier together than with their respective new spouses, and conclude they have not been good parents to Shaun. To make amends, Bud donates enough money to Stanford for the construction of a new Admissions Building, which secures Shaun's acceptance.

Initially ecstatic, Shaun remembers what Ashley and Professor Skinner said, and decides to stay in Orange County with Ashley and his family, as they are the true inspiration for his writing. Shaun leaves a copy of Skinner's book at the beach for someone else to find, then surfs with his friends for the first time since Lonny's death.

Cast

Colin Hanks as Shaun Brumder
Jack Black as Lance Brumder
Catherine O'Hara as Cindy Brumder
Schuyler Fisk as Ashley
John Lithgow as Bud Brumder
Harold Ramis as Don Durkett
Jane Adams as Mona
Garry Marshall as Arthur Gantner
Dana Ivey as Vera Gantner
Carly Pope as Tanya
Chevy Chase as Principal Harbert
Lily Tomlin as Charlotte Cobb, college counselor
Leslie Mann as Krista
Bret Harrison as Lonny
Kyle Howard as Arlo
RJ Knoll as Chad
George Murdock as Bob Beugler
Monica Keena as Gretchen
Fran Kranz as Shane Brainard
Mike White as Mr. Burke, English teacher
Sarah Hagan as Sarah
Lizzy Caplan as Party Girl
Nat Faxon as Kip
Alexandra Breckenridge (Uncredited) as Anna
Kevin Kline (Uncredited) as Marcus Skinner
Ben Stiller (Uncredited) as The Firefighter

Reception

Orange County was given 3 of 4 stars by Roger Ebert, who described it as, "one of those happy projects where everything seems to fall naturally into place. It will sound like the kind of movie that, if you are over 17, you don't usually go to see. But it isn't. It's one of those movies where the description can't do justice to the experience."^[3] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating 47% based on reviews from 122 critics, with an average rating of 5.2 out of 10. The site's consensus states: "Smarter than the average teen movie, but a little on the unmemorable side."^[4] On Metacritic, it has a score of 48% based on reviews from 28 critics.^[5] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B" on scale of A to F.^[6]

It garnered a better reception abroad than domestically. Matthew Turner of ViewLondon states that, "though there are no real belly laughs or any Farrelly-like set pieces, this is still a better than average comedy, thanks to its witty script and its amusing collection of characters. Worth watching."^[7] while Brian McKay of eFilmCritic.com describes it as, "a notch above the usual tripe we get from MTV films—but it's not a very big notch."^[8]

Home media

The film was released on VHS and DVD on June 18, 2002, and was re-released in 2017, as well as available in a 3-pack set with School of Rock and Nacho Libre. It was released on Blu-ray for the first time on April 26, 2022.