ORANGE COUNTY
One of my absolute favorite writerly flicks is Orange County, a darkly humorous and often disgusting peek into one aspiring author's journey. Shaun Brumder finds a novel on the beach one day after his best friend's tragic surfing accident, and finds his purpose in the pages of the book. Determined to be a novelist, he sets his sights on Stanford and studying under the professor who wrote his inspiring novel. Enter Shaun's dysfunctional family and friends, a mis-matched cast of lunatics who manage to get in the way of his dreams at every possible turn.
The movie drives us straight through every frustrating twist and leaves us laughing, cringing, and in the end sniffling happily at the message about redemption, family and the odd and often misunderstood manifestations of love and support in an ordinary (albeit effed up) existence.
I don't think you can go wrong with a cast that includes names like: John Lithgow, Jack Black, Catherine O'Hara, Harold Ramis, Lily Tomlin and Kevin Kline. Orange County certainly delivers a lot of fun, laughter, a full share of touching moments, and in the end a deep message that will resonate with authors and non authors alike.
Though I truly appreciated the point from a fellow writer's perspective, this is really a movie for anyone who has ever looked askance at their own family and wondered how exactly they'd ended up in the center of so much crazy.
Though I truly appreciated the point from a fellow writer's perspective, this is really a movie for anyone who has ever looked askance at their own family and wondered how exactly they'd ended up in the center of so much crazy.
I think that's most of us, really.
If you grok, take some time to enjoy Orange County.
