Orange County is a 2002 American comedy film starring Colin Hanks and Jack Black. It was released on January 11, 2002. The movie was distributed by Paramount Pictures and produced by MTV Productions and Scott Rudin. The movie was directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Mike White.

Plot

Shaun Brumder is an intelligent teenager from affluent Orange County, California with little interest in his education, leading a carefree SoCal lifestyle of surfing, drinking, and partying. Shaun s best friend Lonny is killed in a surfing accident, leading Shaun to rethink his life. He finds a novel on the beach by the author Marcus Skinner, which inspires him to become a writer. Upon learning that Skinner is an English professor at Stanford University, Shaun makes it his goal to attend Stanford and study under him.

Shaun dramatically improves himself academically, obtaining high grades and SAT scores and becoming president of his graduating class. Following the advice of his guidance counselor, Ms. Cobb, Shaun applies only to Stanford. This backfires when Shaun is rejected because Ms. Cobb mixed up his transcript with that of another student. Reaching out to his wealthy father Bud, who left his family to marry a much younger woman, Shaun pleads with him to donate to Stanford to increase Shaun’s chances of acceptance. Disapproving of Shaun s dream of becoming a writer, Bud refuses. Shaun s girlfriend Ashley convinces her friend Tanya to allow Shaun to be interviewed at his home by Tanya s grandfather, a Stanford board member. Unfortunately, the antics of Shaun’s dysfunctional family members, including his alcoholic, emotionally fragile mother Cindy and his dim-witted stoner brother Lance, cause Shaun s interviewers to storm out in disgust.

In a last-ditch effort, Ashley and Lance convince Shaun to drive to Palo Alto and plead his case directly to Stanford Admissions Director Don Durkett. By the time they reach campus, the admissions building is closed. While Lance seduces the secretary on duty, Shaun and Ashley steal Durkett s home address. There, Shaun impresses Durkett with his real transcript, but Durkett is reluctant to admit him so late in the admissions process. After much groveling, Shaun convinces him to give it a second thought. Disaster strikes again when Ashley confuses Lance s MDMA for pain relievers, offering Durkett the pills for his headache and causing him to become high. Shaun, Ashley, and Durkett return to find the Admissions Building engulfed in flames, caused by Lance smoking with the receptionist. With Lance wanted for arson, they abandon Durkett and flee the scene.

Frustrated with Shaun s obsession, Ashley points out that his attending Stanford would likely mean the end of their relationship, and she leaves. Depressed, Shaun wanders the campus and meets a female student who invites him to a frat party. He is disappointed to learn the Stanford coeds are just as vapid as teenagers from Orange County. With a more cynical view of college, Shaun runs into Professor Skinner and is invited to his office. Shaun confides that he is afraid his dreams of being a good writer are over. Skinner reminds him that many famous authors such as James Joyce and William Faulkner grew up in places that were not intellectually stimulating, and were inspired by the conflicts in their own lives. Having an epiphany, Shaun realizes his misguided intentions and finds Ashley to apologize. They pick up Lance, still hiding from police, and drive home.

In Orange County, Shaun s parents seek each other out to deal with Shaun s problem. They reconcile, realizing they are much happier together than with their respective new spouses, and conclude they have not been good parents to Shaun. To make amends, Bud donates enough money to Stanford for the construction of a new Admissions Building, which secures Shaun’s acceptance. Initially ecstatic, Shaun remembers what Ashley and Professor Skinner said, and decides to stay in Orange County with Ashley and his family, realizing they are the true inspiration for his writing. Shaun leaves a copy of Skinner s book at the beach for someone else to find, then surfs with his friends for the first time since Lonny s death.

Cast

• Colin Hanks as Shaun Brumder
• Jack Black as Lance Brumder
• Catherine O Hara as Cindy Brumder
• Schuyler Fisk as Ashley
• John Lithgow as Bud Brumder
• Harold Ramis as Don Durkett
• Jane Adams as Mona
• Garry Marshall as Arthur Gantner
• Dana Ivey as Vera Gantner
• Carly Pope as Tanya
• Chevy Chase as Principal Harbert
• Lily Tomlin as Charlotte Cobb, College counselor
• Leslie Mann as Krista
• Bret Harrison as Lonny
• Kyle Howard as Arlo
• RJ Knoll as Chad
• George Murdock as Bob Beugler
• Monica Keena as Gretchen
• Fran Kranz as Shane Brainard
• Mike White as Mr. Burke, English teacher
• Sarah Hagan as Sarah
• Lizzy Caplan as Party Girl
• Nat Faxon as Kip
• Alexandra Breckenridge (uncredited) as Anna
• Kevin Kline (Uncredited) as Marcus Skinner
• Ben Stiller (Uncredited) as The Firefighter

Reception

Orange County was given 3 of 4 stars by Roger Ebert, who described it as, one of those happy projects where everything seems to fall naturally into place. It will sound like the kind of movie that, if you are over 17, you don t usually go to see. But it isn t. It s one of those movies where the description can t do justice to the experience. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a rating 47% based on reviews from 122 critics, with an average rating of 5.2 out of 10. The site s consensus states: Smarter than the average teen movie, but a little on the unmemorable side. On Metacritic it has a score of 48% based on reviews from 28 critics. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F.

It garnered a better reception abroad than domestically. Matthew Turner of ViewLondon states that, though there are no real belly laughs or any Farrelly-like set pieces, this is still a better than average comedy, thanks to its witty script and its amusing collection of characters. Worth watching. while Brian McKay of eFilmCritic.com describes it as, a notch above the usual tripe we get from MTV films—but it s not a very big notch.

Home media

The film was released on DVD on June 18, 2002, and was re-released in 2017, as well as available in a 3-pack set with School of Rock and Nacho Libre. It was released on Blu-ray for the first time on April 26, 2022.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released on 2 discs on December 18, 2001. The movie itself contains 25 credited songs, leaving 9 out of the soundtrack

Year	2002
ReleaseDate	2002-01-11
RuntimeMins	82
RuntimeStr	1h 22min
Plot	A guidance counselor mistakenly sends out the wrong transcripts to Stanford University under the name of an over-achieving high schooler.
Awards	Awards, 3 nominations
Directors	Jake Kasdan
Writers	Mike White
Stars	Colin Hanks, Jack Black, Schuyler Fisk
Produced by	Scott Aversano,Herbert W. Gains,David Gale,Scott Rudin,Adam Schroeder,Van Toffler
Music by	Michael Andrews
Cinematography by	Greg Gardiner
Film Editing by	Tara Timpone
Casting By	Felicia Fasano,Anne McCarthy,Mary Vernieu
Production Design by	Gary Frutkoff
Set Decoration by	Chris L. Spellman
Costume Design by	Debra McGuire
Makeup Department	Laverne Caracuzzi,Ketty Gonzalez,Lisa Layman,Gloria Ponce
Production Management	Sara Flamm,Herbert W. Gains,Nan Morales
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Carey Dietrich,Seth Edelstein,Deborah Greaney Donovan,Stephanie Kime
Art Department	Deana Albers,David Corral,Kristen Gassner,Sean Ginevan,Wendy Jerde,Adam Khalid,Brian Markey,James P. Meehan,Michael Mosley,Nashon Petrushkin,Chris Scher,Brad Shoemaker,Ramsey Smith,Parker Swanson,Jason Vanover,Mark Weissenfluh,Quinn Yarbrough
Sound Department	Claudia Carle,Patrick Cyccone Jr.,Valerie Davidson,Barbara Delpuech,Gregg Frazier,Robert Grieve,Michael Keller,Ai-Ling Lee,Paul Vik Marshall,Benjamin Martin,Vince Nicastro,Randy Nielsen,Todd Orr,Vic Radulich,Timothy P. Salmon,Joel Shryack,Randy Singer,Keith A. Wester,Douglas J. Schulman
Special Effects by	Joe Digaetano
Visual Effects by	Matthew Adams,Jonathan Alvord,Ted Andre,Lloyd Lee Barnett,Vijoy Gaddipati,Brian Gardner,Dennis Hoffman,Andrew Honacker,Derek Ledbetter,Tim Maloney,Michael J. McAlister,Michael Ramirez,David Robinson,Ramprasad Sampath,Kino Scialabba,Andrew Soria,Paul Taglianetti,Bryan Taylor,Dan Weston,Bjorn Zipprich,Jeffrey Edward Baksinski,Wally Chin,Robert Coquia Jr.,Fred Jimenez,Chad Owen
Stunts	Rick Avery,Janet Brady,Richard E. Butler,Jacob Chambers,Gary Dionne,Jeannie Epper,Tanner Gill,Keii Johnston,Brock Little,Dustin Meier,William Morts,Daniel T. O’Brien,Harry O’Connor,Matthew H. O’Connor,Denney Pierce,Paul E. Short,Lee Smith,Gregg Smrz,Jim Stephan,Darlene Ava Williams,Al Goto,Sean Graham,Lane Leavitt,Larry M. Shorts,Troy Waters
Camera and Electrical Department	Michael Alexonis,Steven Aquilino,Bryan Ashford,Matthew Berner,John S. Campbell,Betty Chow,Cesar Villacis De Lucia,Christopher Goss,Kurt Grossi,Michael Herron,Chris Johnson,Gary Kelso,Dan Kneece,Gemma La Mana,Carson E. Mayne,Noe Nava,Stephen Martin Paull,Chris Pavlu,Aaron Pazanti,Barry Peterson,Michael C. Price,Landon Ruddel,Jack Serino,Brent Studler,Tommy Tieche,Mike Vejar Jr.,Neal Wilde,Jon Yirak,Wayne Baker,Tom Fendley,John Toll
Casting Department	Jennifer Bender,Mariann H.W. Lee,Beanie Barnes
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Stacy Caballero,Winifred Kennamer,Joseph T. Mastrolia,Katrina Mastrolia,Daniel Grant North
Editorial Department	Donald Freeman,Alan Z. McCurdy,Jim Passon,Hugh Ross,Dylan Tichenor
Location Management	Serena Baker,Curtis Collins,Emre Sonmez
Music Department	Bob Bornstein,Tom Calderaro,Tim Devine,Tom Kramer,Manish Raval,Tom Wolfe
Transportation Department	Bruce Callahan,Daniel Conte Sr.,Mike Phillips,Dana Schisler,William Smallwood,Jay Thompson
Additional Crew	Michael Altman,Chung An,Malcolm Auchincloss,Randall Balsmeyer,Lil Blue,Josef Brandmaier,Cassandra Butcher,Joe Camp,J. John Corbett,Patrick Corcoran,Jennifer Corey,David W. Dale,Pam Des Vigne,Dan Duffy,Casey Erklin,Anne Fletcher,Jay Floyd,Sean Garcia,Sarah Hendler,Joshua C. Hersko,Lars Knudsen,Melvin Mar,Ashlee McDonald,Peter McKernan,Blair Mealing,Leda Nornang,Matthew H. O’Connor,Charley Parlapanides,Kate Powell,Glen Richard,Wells Rosales,Will Rowbotham,Dana Rubenstein,Ahmed Saker,Ben Scissors,Chad J. Shonk,E.R. Silverbush,Sue Smith,Narges Takesh,Debbie Tieman,Catherine H. Vlasuk,Kevin J. Walsh,Brian Yonck,Job Alonso,Nancy Anderson,Scott Brant,Tammy Maples
Genres	Comedy, Drama
Companies	Paramount Pictures, MTV Films, Scott Rudin Productions
Countries	USA
Languages	English, Spanish
ContentRating	PG-13
ImDbRating	6.2
ImDbRatingVotes	50205
MetacriticRating	48
Keywords	high school senior,slacker,stanford university,panties,stoner