''The Oranges'' is a 2011 American
romantic comedy-drama directed by
Julian Farino
Julian Farino (born 12 December 1965) is an English film and television producer and director. He was the sports editor of ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and directed much of the first three seasons of the HBO series '' Entourage''.
Farino ...
and starring
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in ...
,
Leighton Meester,
Catherine Keener
Catherine Ann Keener (born March 26, 1959) is an American actress. She has portrayed disgruntled and melancholic yet sympathetic women in independent films, as well as supporting roles in studio films. She has been nominated twice for the Acad ...
,
Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is a Canadian-born American actor. He is known for his starring roles in many films such as ''Flatliners'' (1990), ''Beethoven'' (1992), '' Indecent Proposal'', ''The Three Musketeers'' (both 1993), '' Execut ...
,
Allison Janney
Allison Brooks Janney (born November 19, 1959) is an American actress. In a career spanning three decades, she is known for her performances across multiple genres of screen and stage. Janney has received various accolades, including an Academ ...
,
Alia Shawkat
Alia Martine Shawkat ( ; ar, عليا مارتين شوكت; born April 18, 1989) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in '' The Old Man'', '' State of Grace'', Maeby Fünke in the Fox/Netflix television sitcom '' Arrested Devel ...
, and
Adam Brody. The film chronicles how two families deal with a scandal involving a married man and his friends' daughter. Set in
The Oranges
The Oranges are a group of four municipalities in Essex County, New Jersey, all of which have the word ''Orange'' in their name. The four municipalities are Orange, East Orange, South Orange and West Orange. All of these communities were n ...
area of
Essex County, New Jersey, ''The Oranges'' was primarily filmed in
New Rochelle, New York. It premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...
on September 10, 2011, and was released in the United States on October 5, 2012, by ATO Pictures. The film received mixed reviews upon its release.
Plot
The story is narrated from the perspective of aspiring furniture designer Vanessa Walling, whose plan to stay at home for a few months after college has turned into years. She witnesses the heartache between her parents as their marriage falls apart. Their best friends, Terry and Cathy Ostroff, live across the street in their suburb of
West Orange, New Jersey
West Orange is a suburban township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from the 46,207 counted in the 2010 Census. .
When the Ostroffs' prodigal 24-year-old daughter Nina returns home after a failed engagement, Vanessa is unhappy to see her back.
The mothers of both families would like to see Nina form a relationship with the Wallings' jet-setting son Toby, but Nina herself is more interested in Vanessa's father David. Cathy discovers the affair after following Nina to a motel and seeing David there as well. Thus begins the meltdown of both families.
Cast
The Wallings
*
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in ...
as David (father)
*
Catherine Keener
Catherine Ann Keener (born March 26, 1959) is an American actress. She has portrayed disgruntled and melancholic yet sympathetic women in independent films, as well as supporting roles in studio films. She has been nominated twice for the Acad ...
as Paige (mother)
*
Adam Brody as Toby (son)
*
Alia Shawkat
Alia Martine Shawkat ( ; ar, عليا مارتين شوكت; born April 18, 1989) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in '' The Old Man'', '' State of Grace'', Maeby Fünke in the Fox/Netflix television sitcom '' Arrested Devel ...
as Vanessa (daughter)
The Ostroffs
*
Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is a Canadian-born American actor. He is known for his starring roles in many films such as ''Flatliners'' (1990), ''Beethoven'' (1992), '' Indecent Proposal'', ''The Three Musketeers'' (both 1993), '' Execut ...
as Terry (father)
*
Allison Janney
Allison Brooks Janney (born November 19, 1959) is an American actress. In a career spanning three decades, she is known for her performances across multiple genres of screen and stage. Janney has received various accolades, including an Academ ...
as Cathy (mother)
*
Leighton Meester as Nina (daughter)
The Others
*
Aya Cash
Aya Rachel Cash is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Gretchen Cutler in the FX/FXX dark comedy series ''You're the Worst'' (2014–2019), as Stormfront in the Amazon Prime Video superhero drama series '' The Boys'' (2020–2 ...
as Maya
*
Sam Rosen as Ethan
*
Tim Guinee
Timothy S. Guinee (born November 18, 1962) is an American stage, television, and feature-film actor. Primarily known for his roles as Tomin in the television series ''Stargate SG-1'' (1997–2007) and railroad entrepreneur Collis Huntington AMC ...
as Roger
* Cassidy Gard as Samantha
*
Hoon Lee
Tong Hoon Lee (born July 18, 1973) is an American stage, film and television actor, known for playing Job in the Cinemax original series ''Banshee'' and the King in the Broadway revival of ''The King and I'', and voicing Hamato Yoshi/Splinter in ...
as Henry
* Heidi Kristoffer as Meredith
* Jennifer Bronstein as Amy
* Stephen Badalamenti as Taxi Driver
* John Srednicki as Waiter
*
Betsy Aidem
Betsy Aidem (born October 28, 1957) is an American actress who plays for film, television and stage. Her film work includes ''The Bleeding House'', '' See You in the Morning'', '' A Vigilante'' and '' Aeris''. Her television work includes '' The ...
as Anne Allen
Production
Writing and casting
The
script
Script may refer to:
Writing systems
* Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire
* Script (styles of handwriting)
** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of handw ...
, written by Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer, appeared on 2008's Black List of best unproduced work; that list also featured ''
The Beaver'' and ''
Inglourious Basterds
''Inglourious Basterds'' is a 2009 war film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger and Mélanie Laurent. The film tells an altern ...
''.
Reiss and Helfer wrote the
spec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned and unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or ...
, which is inspired by a story they heard from friends, during the
Writers Guild of America strike.
[ ] The film marks
Julian Farino
Julian Farino (born 12 December 1965) is an English film and television producer and director. He was the sports editor of ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and directed much of the first three seasons of the HBO series '' Entourage''.
Farino ...
's debut as motion picture director; he had previously directed episodes of ''
Entourage
An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...
''.
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...
's agent
Ed Limato called Farino to tell him Gere was interested in the script,
but Farino wanted only
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in ...
to play the role of David because he had "that innate decency that could carry this thing".
On February 8, 2010, Laurie was reported to be in talks to play his first feature lead role.
Leighton Meester and
Mila Kunis
Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis (born August 14, 1983) is an American actress. Born in Chernivtsi and raised in Los Angeles, she began playing Jackie Burkhart on the Fox television series ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) at the age of 14. Since ...
were also said to join the cast as his love interest.
On February 28, it was confirmed that Meester had won the role over Kunis, while
Adam Brody,
Alia Shawkat
Alia Martine Shawkat ( ; ar, عليا مارتين شوكت; born April 18, 1989) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in '' The Old Man'', '' State of Grace'', Maeby Fünke in the Fox/Netflix television sitcom '' Arrested Devel ...
,
Catherine Keener
Catherine Ann Keener (born March 26, 1959) is an American actress. She has portrayed disgruntled and melancholic yet sympathetic women in independent films, as well as supporting roles in studio films. She has been nominated twice for the Acad ...
and
Allison Janney
Allison Brooks Janney (born November 19, 1959) is an American actress. In a career spanning three decades, she is known for her performances across multiple genres of screen and stage. Janney has received various accolades, including an Academ ...
were all in negotiations.
Meester and Laurie had previously worked together when she guest-starred in two episodes of ''
House'', which had plot developments somewhat similar to the storyline of ''The Oranges''.
In the 2006 ''House'' episode "Lines in the Sand", Meester's character is a
17-year-old who relentlessly pursues Laurie's "Dr. House" character, flirting with him and insisting that they should have sex— he eventually diagnoses that a fungal spore in her brain has resulted in her loss of inhibition and judgement. Farino knew Meester from ''Entourage'' where he directed her in the show's first season. He approached her while she was in the dressing room, preparing for a ''
Gossip Girl
''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six sea ...
'' episode shooting, and they made a "rushed audition".
About her role, Meester said: "It’s a complete 180-degree turn from anything I’ve ever done. This fulfills something within myself that I could never find in my series
'Gossip Girl''"
Even though Alia Shawkat's name was the first mentioned by the casting director, Farino met with a lot of actresses for the role of Vanessa.
Shawkat met Farino a year before she auditioned where he told her that they were considering
Elliot Page for the part. After Page turned it down, Shawkat auditioned twice and was cast.
Allison Janney and Oliver Platt had also worked together before in the television series ''
The West Wing
''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White Hous ...
'', while Catherine Keener and Platt had starred in the movie ''
Please Give
''Please Give'' is a 2010 dark comedy film written and directed by Nicole Holofcener and starring Catherine Keener. It is the fourth film Keener and Holofcener have made together. The film also stars Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Lois Sm ...
''.
Filming
The ending was rewritten before shooting.
During filming, Laurie, Meester, Janney, Platt, and Brody shared a house together.
While the film is set in the fall, from Thanksgiving to Christmas in New Jersey, principal filmography started at the end of March 2010 in the upscale
Beechmont section of
New Rochelle
New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state o ...
in
Westchester County
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...
,
New York and lasted 29 days.
Scenes were also shot in the neighboring Westchester communities of
Mamaroneck
Mamaroneck ( ) is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States.
The population was 31,758 at the 2020 United States census over 29,156 at the 2010 census. There are two villages contained within the town: Larchmont and the Village of M ...
and
Bronxville, as well as the
Tropicana Casino in
Atlantic City, New Jersey. The film was shot with
Red cameras. The narration was provided by Shawkat's character Vanessa whose
voice-over
Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentation ...
was recorded in post-production during the editing of the film.
ATO Pictures acquired the rights of distribution in September 2011.
Release
The film premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...
on September 10, 2011 and opened the
Montclair Film Festival
Montclair Film is a nonprofit most well known for organizing the annual Montclair Film Festival (MFF) usually held in late April, early May in Montclair, New Jersey. The festival showcases new works from American and international filmmakers, and ...
on May 1, 2012. It received a
limited release in the United States on October 5, 2012, being screened in 110 theaters.
The film was released in the UK on December 7, 2012.
Critical response
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has a approval rating based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's consensus is: "Despite the efforts of its accomplished cast, The Oranges suffers from a mediocre script that fails to deliver well-rounded characters, dramatic tension, or sufficient laughs."
On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
it has a weighted score of 46 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Giving it 3 stars out of 4, Moira Macdonald of ''
The Seattle Times
''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington ...
'' wrote highly of ''The Oranges'', calling it "a superbly cast dark comedy; it's a familiar story made fresh by actors who know how to make each breath matter." She found the film funny. The ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...
'' reviewer Mick LaSalle said that despite feeling sometimes "inauthentic," the film "breaks formula; its concerns are not the usual movie concerns, and it takes what might have been a standard plot in some unexpected directions.
..The film just examines the interpersonal dynamics in an honest way. This leads to conflicts but also to unexpected and effective moments of tenderness between various characters." He wrote that Laurie and Platt "stand out" because of the good writing of their characters and that Meester embodies well the 24-year-old. Rafer Guzman of ''
Newsday'' gave the film a 2-star rating out of 4 and wrote: "''The Oranges'' hits and misses at random.
Meester's Nina is absolutely radiant, but
Laurie's David is a dour dullard. There are some genuinely moving moments, but the mayhem-in-suburbia slapstick falls flat. The film is certainly unpredictable, but that's partly because it doesn't know its own mind."
The ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' critic Michael Phillips described the film as "a comedy rueful but tidy and safe," which sparked not much interest in him, and added that it is "a placid tale of impulses running wild." He, however, deemed the ensemble "excellent." ''
The Star-Ledger
''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to '' The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of ...
'' writer Stephen Witty said that the film "has a few good lines, and a fine cast." He thought that Laurie was "particularly good,"
Keener amusing and
Platt charming, but expected more of the film: "You want something that plays a little sharper, and cuts a little deeper. You want something that demands more of its performers, and delivers more to its audience."
Similarly, ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' Lou Lumenick wrote: "While there are laughs, the farcical elements of ''The Oranges'' are not presented with sufficient discipline to live up to the full potential of its cast." ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'' critic David Rooney praised members of the cast "who manage to hit a sweet spot even in this mediocre material," noting that the film "runs out of juice" when it becomes serious and that the film's "cathartic moments feel fabricated" and concluded that the cast "deserves better."
Stephen Holden of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' said the film's problem is that its creators did not decide what genre ''The Oranges'' would be; "a dangerous comic satire or a serious dramatic downer," and instead made "a wishy-washy middle ground. As comedy, it isn’t funny; as serious drama, it lacks a moral and emotional center." Despite Vanessa (
Alia Shawkat
Alia Martine Shawkat ( ; ar, عليا مارتين شوكت; born April 18, 1989) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in '' The Old Man'', '' State of Grace'', Maeby Fünke in the Fox/Netflix television sitcom '' Arrested Devel ...
) "the most interesting character" praising her "sardonic perspective," the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' reviewer wrote that the film "never fully comes to life." While ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' reviewer
Owen Gleiberman found Meester "charming," ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' Michael O'Sullivan felt that lightness and brightness were missing from her performance and that she took the film too seriously.
Home media
''The Oranges'' was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
and
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
on May 7, 2013.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Oranges, The
2011 films
2011 comedy films
2011 directorial debut films
2011 drama films
2011 romantic comedy-drama films
2010s English-language films
American romantic comedy-drama films
Films about dysfunctional families
Films directed by Julian Farino
Films scored by Klaus Badelt
Films set in New Jersey
Films shot in New Jersey
Films shot in New York (state)
2010s American films
Films shot in Atlantic City, New Jersey