TinTinMunch
Posts: 3
Joined: 10/4/2010
From: Oxford, Oxfordshire
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As a predecessor to the series The O.C., Mike White's penned comedy provides hilarity and amusement throughout, thanks to a sweet natured script and an array of familiar faces making up the cast.
Shaun Brumder is a high school student who up until the 'tsunami' style surfing death of his close friend Lonny, was enjoying life and his hometown of Orange County in California. After Lonny's death, Shaun is sat on the beach one day when he discovers a book in the sand. The book is a novel about teenage life, written by college professor Marcus Skinner. Shaun's life soon changes, as he is inspired by the writer's grasp on what it really means to be a teenager and soon his eyes are opened to his true calling: to become a writer himself. So Shaun sets about writing his own novel and with a letter to Marcus, sends across his manuscript. Eager to pursue his potential, Shaun looks to his high school student advisor for help in getting into Stanford University, the place he believes will help aid him in his quest for success. Unfortunately for Shaun, the journey to Stanford will be a long and difficult one. The absent minded high school help manages to mix up and send over the wrong transcript to Stanford, causing Shaun to miss his chances of getting into the university. Devastated by the news, Shaun slowly starts to realise that Orange County and those around him are contributing to keeping his dreams at bay: his broken family - the distant father, the depressed mother and the junkie brother - seem to do nothing but ignore and ruin his hopes and chances of writing and getting a good education. His father, who is remarried to a young gold digger, seems intent on bringing Shaun down about his ambitions and denies him any help when Shaun tries other avenues at getting into Stanford. His mother, who is all too fearful about the idea of Shaun leaving Orange County and her alone with her wheel chair bound second husband, constantly manages to ruin his chances of getting away by either throwing a fit of depression, or drunkenly embarrassing him in front of Stanford board members. Then there is Lance, Shaun's ridiculous older, less promising brother. Lance continuously manages to hold Shaun back and with great ease. If he is not showing himself up in front of the board members, he is setting fire to the admissions centre of Stanford University on Shaun's final attempt at getting in. Furthermore, Shaun feels outcast by those that surround him in his school and social life. If it isn't the good for nothing teachers providing lack of attention and encouragement, then it is Shaun's own circle of friends who only want to surf and party, and just don't get Shaun's more creative mind. The only saving grace for Shaun is his girlfriend, but with all the disappointments and let downs in his life, he doesn't seem to notice how important she is to him. Finally, when visiting Stanford, Shaun is able to meet a group of students and the dean of admissions. What he soon discovers however, is that no matter how far away he moves, and no matter how different the people might be to those in Orange County, everything and everyone are really just the same. Instead, Shaun's eventual encounter with Marcus Skinner on campus provides him with the real eye opener he has been searching for: whilst he always felt those around him were just the cause of problems for him, they were in fact the inspiration for his writing, and Shaun soon realises how much he actually needs to be with them.
Mike White manages to combine the surf dude teen comedy with sophisticated coming of age comedy dialogue. It is with this and the support of a cast of comedy regulars that the film manages to stand out amongst any others like it. John Lithgow, Catherine O'Hara, Lily Tomlin, Chevy Chase, Leslie Mann, Harold Ramis, Jack Black and Kevin Kline, offer short, but sweet helpings of laughs, but as well as the more obvious faces of comedy, the younger cast, particularly Colin Hanks in the lead role as Shaun, offer as much entertainment as their elders: from Shaun's surfer best pals celebrating Lonny's `death birthday', to fellow classmates getting accepted to prestigious universities they can't even remember the names of.
Yes you might indeed call Orange County a feel good journey of self discovery.
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