Review of The Oranges (2011) by Ben C — 20 Jun 2013

We just watched this one tonight and I was impressed. Great cast, a tough story, and a well done film all around. I'm giving it four stars. I had never seen Alia Shawkat, as Vanessa, before, and really liked her fresh face.

She served as the narrator and was probably the sanest of the major characters. The two women, Paige (Keener) and Carol (Janney), grated on the nerves a bit with their histrionics, but, I could overlook that as the various relationships played out.

Seeing Keener and Platt together on the screen again, reminded me of Please Give, and Paige was in many ways similar to Kate from the earlier film, but that proved interesting by comparison. I also enjoyed the two extra featurettes on the disc, a making of and a behind the scenes offering.

It was interesting to hear the various participants talk about the film. Hugh Laurie commented that the challenge is to present the central characters as believable as a couple, but also to make them sympathetic, someone that you can root for.

In that effort, I felt they were particularly successful.