The Oranges [HD]

Surprisingly pleasant family drama/comedy
"The Oranges" (2012 release; 90 min.) brings the story of two married couples living across the street from each other. There is Terry and Cathy Ostroff (played by Oliver Platt and Allison Janney). Terry and Cathy are best friends with David and Paige Walling (played by Hugh Laurie and Catherine Keener), whose marriage is not going well and whose twenty-something yr. old daughter Vanessa still lives with them. This is in sharp contrast with Terry and Cathy's daughter (and Vanessa's childhood friend) Nina (played by Leighton Meester), who is living "la vida loca" in San Francisco. Things go unexpectedly sour for Nina who, tails between her legs, moves in with her parents. The two families are enjoying their time together, until Nina and David develop a crush on each other (despite their significant age difference). At that point we are about one-third into the movie, and to tell you more of the plot would simply ruin your viewing experience. But as you can well imagine, all kinds of...

Definitely Worth a Look
While this wasn't the greatest movie ever made, it definitely was solid. With a lot of movies I watch, I find myself stopping and starting the DVD every once in awhile as I get distracted by something else. So, for me to watch a movie from start to finish without interruptions is a rarity. This was one of those movies.
The plot is solid and believable, the dialogue is solid and believable, the characters are (for the most part) solid and believable, and the acting is strong from start to finish. Again, definitely "worth a look."
No real weaknesses anywhere, which sounds like "faint praise," but really isn't, because so many movies these days have glaring weaknesses. So it really is nice to watch a movie that doesn't have any weak spots - makes it very enjoyable and satisfying to watch.

IT'S NOT ABOUT BEING HAPPY
This is another feel good, feel awkward, sometimes humorous indie. The beginning of the film establishes the characters of the six main players. Two families are best friends. They do everything together, but not all is well. David Walling (Hugh Laurie) has been sleeping on the couch. His daughter Vanessa (Alia Shawkat) does some first person narration. Growing up she was best friends with Nina (Leighton Meester) who is part of the second family. Unlike Vanessa, Nina is a free spirit and Vanessa sees her as the antagonist.

Nina breaks up with her boyfriend and comes home for Thanksgiving after two years. The parents hope to fix her up with Toby Walling (Adam Brody), but Nina has suddenly developed a taste for older men, older married men who sleep on the couch. They are quickly discovered and the film goes into a mild disaster mode with crude comments from Nina's mom (Allison Janney) and snarky remarks from the hurt Vanessa.

The film had some funny parts, but for...

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