Orange County 2002

Critics score:
46 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Orange County provides proof that the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. Read more

Charles Savage, Miami Herald: The essential problem in Orange County is that, having created an unusually vivid set of characters worthy of its strong cast, the film flounders when it comes to giving them something to do. Read more

Robert K. Elder, Chicago Tribune: A film that does little more than wander aimlessly about. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: [T]oo many of these gross out scenes... Read more

Susan Stark, Detroit News: Young Hanks and Fisk, who vaguely resemble their celebrity parents, bring fresh good looks and an ease in front of the camera to the work. Read more

Jane Sumner, Dallas Morning News: A refreshing change from the usual whoopee-cushion effort aimed at the youth market. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Feels like six different movies fighting each other for attention. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: A modestly surprising movie. Read more

Mark Rahner, Seattle Times: This may be the dumbest, sketchiest movie on record about an aspiring writer's coming-of-age. Read more

Bob Longino, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: This is a movie for every single high school senior in America who has just completed or is right now going through the process of applying to college. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: Barrels along at the start before becoming mired in sentimentality. Read more

Houston Chronicle: Read more

Paul Tatara, CNN.com: One of the smartest idiotic teen comedies you'll ever see. Read more

Steven Rosen, Denver Post: Not since Tom Cruise in Risky Business has an actor made such a strong impression in his underwear. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Arriving amid the traditionally withered harvest of January releases, Orange County is peachy. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Just when it seemed there was no other possible way to copy a cat, they prove you wrong. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: It's derivative and tiresome with little more to offer than one might anticipate from a teen comedy road trip. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: One of those movies like Ghost World and Legally Blonde where the description can't do justice to the experience. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: A piece of mildly entertaining, inoffensive fluff that drifts aimlessly for 90 minutes before lodging in the cracks of that ever-growing category: unembarrassing but unmemorable. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: There are laugh-out-loud moments and some well-observed satire, but when the movie tries to get serious, it collapses. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: Full of keenly observed moments of intergenerational embarrassment, as a smarter-than-average teen movie Orange County falls somewhere smack in between Ghost World's depressive cynicism and Teen Movie's gleeful cliche-bashing. Read more

Trevor Johnston, Time Out: The urine-quaffing gags and hearty barfing asides are the lowbrow price extracted for...gestures towards semi-intelligence. Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: This one is geared more toward the volleyball players we see early on, leaping and spiking in the sand. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: [Kasdan] and White aim very low here and fail to take advantage of the abundant opportunities for social satire that its upper class and academic settings provide. Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: Lessons are learned amid the scatological yucks, profitless cameos (Chevy Chase, Ben Stiller), and Black's graceless mugging. Read more