A Good Old Fashioned Orgy
It's always interesting to see which films get major releases and which get the shaft.
"A Good Old Fashioned Orgy" got the proverbial high hard one.
Don't get me wrong: It's hardly a classic, but given some of the dreck that got full releases in 2011, why not this one?
"Orgy" stars Jason Sudeikis of "Saturday Night Live" as Eric, the 30-year-old son of a rich dude (Don Johnson) who lives the good life in pop's summer house with a group of buddies both male and female. They pass their summers by holding themed parties where everyone dresses like rednecks or Egyptians or whatever else they can think up.
When Dad decides to sell his summer home, Eric decides the gang needs one last bash. Something special, something retro, something that will link them together forever. His solution: a small, literally intimate affair of group sex on Labor Day. Meanwhile, they do everything they can to prevent the house from selling.
"Orgy" features a solid, if somewhat anonymous, cast. Leslie Bibb, who had small roles in both "Iron Man" films, plays Sudeikis' love interest and the Realtor who is trying to sell his house. Michelle Borth (TV's "Hawaii Five-O") is Eric's former flame, who still carries one for him. The film also features Martin Starr ("Knocked Up"), Rhys Coiro (TV's "Entourage") and Tyler Labine in the Belushi/Farley role as Sudeikis' portly, profane right-hand-man. Nick Kroll ("Dinner for Schmucks"), Will Forte ("SNL") and Lucy Punch ("Bad Teacher") offer other familiar faces.
The cast has considerable chemistry and gets along like a group of old friends hanging out and making a movie. If anything, they're perhaps a bit too comfortable with each other and don't take any risks or work to raise the level of the comedy.
The film is leisurely and elicits the occasional chuckle, but is a bit enslaved to its premise, building more on the central premise and sprinkling the occasional situational humor here and there. It's frequently lazy but is never embarassingly bad. There are a few chuckles here and there, and to the film's credit, it doesn't do the usual cop out of films of this nature. However, the film's resolution shrugs off a lot of issues that should have been dealt with, namely the Sudeikis/Bibb/Borth love triangle that isn't.
For a film centered around an orgy, it's surprisingly tame, with sex scenes that uses well-placed obstacles (usually arms) to obscure certain body parts. It certainly could have used a bit more attitude and the courage to go all out and feature nudity and crazier situations.
You're not going to put "Orgy" into the "Animal House"/"Stripes"/"Caddyshack" pantheon by any means, but it's a likable enough sex comedy that could have used a bit more raunch and imagination.
DVD extras include a commentary by Sudeikis and co-directors Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck, along with deleted scenes, gag reel and a featurette on how to film an orgy.
Film: 3 Yaps Extras: 3 Yaps