Premise - Surfer Shaun Brumder (Colin Hanks) finds a book on the beach and upon reading it decides that his path lies not in the idilic, sunny, fake, Orange County, but as an aspiring writer at Stanford College. Orange County is a mixed bag. On the one hand it's a balls-out gross out teen comedy. On the other it's a character piece about the importance of staying true to your roots and how they define you. Unfortunately it's a mix that doesn't work too well. The teen comedy elements seem at odds with the rest of the film, one minute your laughing and the next your in the middle of a high drama scene. It's kind of all over the place and the neat, smaltzy ending leaves a bad taste in the mouth. That's not to say it's a bad film, it's not. The film has a parade of second generation stars. Star Colin Hanks is the son of Tom Hanks. His romantic interest is played by Schuyler Fisk whom is the daughter of Sissy Spaceck. Director Jake Kasdan is the son of Lawrence Kasdan. All do well and certainly do their respective parents proud. Of particular note is Colin Hanks. He shows some real promise for the future. To be fair the movie is light (kind of like the stuff his dad used to make before Philadelphia) but he performs well and is convincing throughout. Stand out though is Jack Black. His take on Lance (Shaun's parolee, drug dealing brother) is by far the best thing in the film. He's constantly stoned throughout the movie and whenever he's on screen the movie is lifted by a notch or two. This is more like the kind of thing that I know Black is capable off after the risible 'Shallow Hal'. Catherine O'Hara and John Lithgow are a nice pairing as Shaun's divorced parents. They play well of each other and have some fairly amusing scenes together. Lithgow in particular is always a joy to watch, he can switch from comedy to drama so easily. Peppered through the movie are a barrage of star cameo's. Harold Ramis, Lilly Tomlin, Chevy Chase, Kevin Kline and Ben Stiller all throw there hat into the ring. I would personally liked to have seen a bit more of Chase as I think he is sorely underused as a comic talent. As I said the main problem with the film is the mixture of teen comedy and family drama. If they could have balanced it out a little better ot even dropped on or the other (to be fair the teen comedy aspect was more appealing then the drama side) then the film could have been better. As it stands it's a patchy comedy with some ill advised drama moments and a near vomit inducing ending where all the pieces fall into to place a little to neatly.

6/10 for Orange County. Poster Quote - Mmmm, oranges.....