Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

pc_kerr I like the adult actors in the movie who give solid performance despite the "piece of crap" lines they were forced to say. Maybe they had bills to pay and this movie just came along. A lightweight at best, actress, Leighton Meester, plays the prodigal daughter who returns home and breaks up the marriage of her parents' best friends. And she manages to break up the friendship between the two couples who have been friends for more than 20 years. It means nothing to her. Whether the aforementioned marriage was "happy" is not the point; it was a marriage and this flighty vapid girl takes down the man/Hugh Laurie like a lion after a wounded gazelle. He's ripe for the picking and she has no sense of decency/morality at all. This movie made my skin crawl; there was nothing funny about it. The vixen feels there are no rules and that's her game in all of this. Take what you want and to hell with the consequences. In fact, she sees people who don't take her side as being prudish, old-fashioned, biased again her youth, etc. The movie is without value. Give it a pass.

estebangonzalez10 ¨I'm your ex girlfriend's boyfriend's wife.¨I'd rather sit through an hour long episode of Dr. House, The OC, or Gossip Girl rather than watch this film starring some of the actors from the above mentioned series. The Oranges was directed by Julian Farino, who I had never heard of before this film. I actually went to see this film because I thought it had an interesting cast. The biggest flaw of The Oranges was its screenplay; written by Ian Helfer and Jay Reiss. The dramedy never quite manages to feel authentic and everything felt like a complete farce. The dialogue in this film felt very light considering the subject matter and the comedic moments weren't effective. The relationships didn't feel real either, although I must admit that the friendship between Laurie's character and Platt's was probably the strongest thing about this movie. Beside the three TV stars: Hugh Laurie, Leighton Meester, and Adam Brody, the film also stars Allison Janney and Catherine Keener whom I always thought looked very much alike. These are all very likable actors, but they were given some really underdeveloped characters and the film never really rang true to me. Other films have tackled this subject matter in much better ways. Examples that come to mind for me are The Graduate and American Beauty, but this movie doesn't even come close to what those films achieved. Despite how much I wanted to like this movie because of the actors, I had a hard time watching this. I would pick any of their television series over this film anytime.The film focuses on the relationship between two Jersey families. On the one hand, we have David (Hugh Laurie) and Paige Walling (Catherine Keener) who have two children: Vanessa (Alia Shawkat) and Toby (Adam Brody), and then we are introduced to their neighbors, the Ostroff's, consisting of Terry (Oliver Platt) and Carol (Allison Janney). Terry and David have been best friends for a long time, and their families get together often. The Ostroff's have a daughter named Nina (Leighton Meester) who decides to return home after five years for the Holidays. Her presence will change things when she falls in love with David. The two begin seeing each other and it has a tremendous effect on both families. Nina convinces David that there are no rules to happiness, but at the same time his decision affects everyone around him. When Paige finds out about this relationship she confronts David and soon everyone's life is affected by this relationship. The film doesn't seem to take sides on the moral issue, but it doesn't ever feel like it takes things seriously either. The entire film felt like a complete waste of time. The relationship between David and Nina never felt authentic and there was no chemistry whatsoever between them. The film really suffers from a poor script and the likable actors aren't enough to save this film. The narration of the film didn't work for me either and I felt like it was simply used to simplify things. The question the film seems to be raising is whether it is really worth doing whatever makes you happy without measuring the consequences and how it can affect the rest of the people around you. At first it seems as if it agrees with this premise, but later their consequences catch up with them. Some characters seem to be better off, but things never remain the same. I think I am getting a little too philosophical for a film that really didn't take itself too seriously, but I definitely felt that something was completely off with The Oranges. It is an awkward film and one I wouldn't recommend. http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

Robert W. I remember seeing the trailer for this film a long time ago and thinking it looked sort of fun. I do love Hugh Laurie and my wife loves Leighton Meester so we were both excited to watch it. I love a good indie film and this is certainly "good." It doesn't go much beyond mediocre-ville but that's okay. In some aspects it tries to do much and then at the same time doesn't do enough. It's a "Graduate" type May-December romance, a story about best friends and family and a coming of age story all rolled into one. The film perhaps doesn't do quite enough to explore each facet of this concept but it still does it well. In a real-life situation like this, it would be incredibly awkward for everyone and guess what? The film perfectly captures that family and friendship tension and awkwardness. There are certain scenes where you're almost squeamish feeling how these characters must feel. That being said I wasn't the least bit awkward over the romance between Meester and Laurie. I actually thought they were pretty good together and while the film NEVER implies their romance is right, it does explore the feelings and the concept of what makes a person happy.The ensemble cast is very good. I will start with Hugh Laurie because I've liked him for a very long time since House. Laurie in this film plays a softer, likable, misunderstood guy trying desperately to hang on to his family while doing what makes him happy. They could portray Laurie as a jerk but you never feel that way about him. Mostly you feel sorry for him and wonder what he will do and what is right for him. He proves he can star in a film for sure. Leighton Meester gives an intelligent and provocative performance as Nina, the object of Laurie's affections. As I said before her chemistry with Laurie is actually very good and unlike most "other women" in films she isn't someone you hate. It actually feels like just a bad situation that they've dug themselves into. Catherine Keener is someone I usually find very dry and in this film she is appropriately dry right up until her melt down on the front lawn in her car (which is one of the best scenes in the film.) Kenner works for this role because of her ability to seem a little rigid. That is a backhanded compliment I suppose. Oliver Platt is great as he almost always is...I wish he did more. He is a fun, lovable, misunderstood guy who has lost his best friend and daughter and is trying to hold his life together and his family. I think they really under-explore his character and his relationship with Laurie but he still does a great job. Alia Shawkat is the daughter of Laurie and Keener and former best friend of Meester who is truly caught in the middle of this. She does an okay job but sort of falls in the shadow of better performers like Meester and Laurie and Platt. Her character could have been far more explored too but she serves her purpose. She is best when trading jabs with Meester physically or verbally. Adam Brody is featured as main cast but he is really hardly in the movie. He comes and goes as almost a cameo and I can't say much to his performance because outside of a few good lines he doesn't have much.Shakespearean family dynamics. That's what this movie is. Its like when you're spying on a couple arguing because you want the real life drama...well this is non-stop drama and its fun to watch because its so awkward. Its well performed, a decent script and good direction by Julian Farino who comes mostly from Television but good Television so that's something. Honestly, by the end of the film I almost hoped Laurie and Meester would stay together but you know throughout the movie that it literally just can't happen. Still their relationship shakes up their entire lives and turns everything on end. Somehow everyone learns something and finds their "coming-of-age." The film's real feat is not making you feel angry at any of the characters but actually root for them and want to see everyone get what makes them happy. The film is in some ways a Christmas film but the most bizarre one in many aspects. The ending is almost too cut and dry and yet perfect also. I can't even call the film a dark comedy but it certainly has its moments for laughing and moments for being serious. All in all, very entertaining and while it doesn't knock anything out of the ballpark, it is absolutely worth seeing. 7.5/10

derdriui Ridiculous, bland and terrible. There was no weight to any of the relationships. When the young girl tells her uncle that there are "no rules", she reveals the ENTIRE motivation of both characters.There are no rules! So lets go to Atlantic City! And hey, if your partner of over twenty years walks out on you because you're sleeping with the child of her (and your!) best friends, well that's just a thing that happens!The scenes between Laurie and Meester are quite bland, though they get more nauseating as their systematic destruction of their family relationships continue.It just makes no sense.