Delayed Reaction: The Oranges

The Pitch: Two best friend families are broken up after the husband of one family begins an affair with the daughter from the other family.

In a way, this movie has been on my radar since 2006, when Leighton Meester guest starred in a couple episodes of House M.D.. Because of that, when I heard about The Oranges back in 2011, the casting of Hugh Laurie opposite Meester always tickled me. Also, Hugh Laurie is never the lead in a movie.

While he's billed as the lead in The Oranges, it's definitely more of an ensemble, and an ensemble that I really like. Laurie, Meester, Alia Shawkat, Allison Janney, Oliver Platt, Adam Brody. My TV All Stars senses are tingling. Catherine Keener is the only movies-first actor in the cast. And, a young Aya Cash. What's not to like about this cast?

This movie does a lot of smart things. It puts Meester and Laurie on equal footing in their affair/relationship. The movie wastes no time with shenanigans to try to hide the affair. The script is committed to mixing and matching scenes with the cast, so there's a lot of flavor to the different relationships. I think that there's even value to be added by seeing this again.

But, it's really hampered by never deciding what it is. It's the classic "Not funny enough to be a comedy, not serious enough to be a drama". That isn't to say that a movie can't do both. In this case, it would've benefited greatly from picking a side and injected what it could of the other when possible. I went in expecting a straight-up comedy (perhaps a slightly more dour Crazy, Stupid Love), which this was not. I am leaving a little room to suggest that maybe it was subtler than I expected. Maybe I missed a lot. I doubt that, but, as I said, I think there's value in seeing this again.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend