The Oranges - review

Suppose American Beauty’s Lester Burnham had followed his loins. That’s the reasonably interesting premise behind Julian Farino’s comedy-drama, which stars Hugh Laurie as David Walling, a New Jersey suburbanite who falls into bed with Nina (Leighton Meester), his daughter’s “perfect” peer.

To add to the tension, David and his wife, Paige (Catherine Keener) are best friends with Terry and Cathy Ostroff (Oliver Platt, Allison Janney), who just happen to be Nina’s parents. Will the Ostroffs be supportive of the new relationship? Not really. “Are you okay with her sucking David’s old balls?” says Cathy to Terry. Ah, Janney. She’s so pithy, it hurts.

Thanks to his stints on House, Laurie is now a bona fide US star, with a bona fide US accent. Those who’ve loved him for years, however, will note the Bertie-Wooster-ish air he brings to this character. David’s eyes keep widening in delighted and horrified surprise. He needs help.

He’s not alone. The movie’s horribly jaunty soundtrack is a problem. Ditto the blah camera-work. But mostly it’s the script, which turns out to be spineless.

Take David’s daughter, Vanessa (Alia Shawkat), who seems, initially, to have tumbled out of the pages of Philip Roth’s American Pastoral. Vanessa is a time-bomb. Alas, she never explodes.