Orange County
This film has some very good names involved, and while I like the other projects by those involved a lot more than I like this film, it is still a pleasant enough little flick, and at least aspires to be a little more intelligent than most teen fare.
Writer Mike White wrote the very good The Good Girl and did a polish of Dead Man On Campus , one of my all-time favourite comedies (frat boy Cliff O'Malley is one of cinemas finest characters), and director Jake Kasdan was responsible for the excellent Zero Effect .
Plus they both have connections to Freaks and Geeks , possibly one of the bestest television shows in the history of the universe.
Colin Son-of-Tom Hanks stars as an aspiring writer whose college application gets stuffed up, and who spends the film trying to right the wrong so he can get into the college of his dreams and study under his favourite writer. He has a wacky set of family and friends that help and hinder him along this quest. And that's the film.
His friends aren't funny in the least and his character is pretty one-note in his pursuit so luckily for the film Jack Black is in fine form. Now he may be an acquired taste for some, but here he can do no wrong and every second he is on screen I find him damn funny. Possibly the funniest he has been. The chat he has with Ben Stiller's fireman is a personal highlight and probably the sole reason why I own this DVD, have seen the film more than once, and will probably watch it again at some juncture.