Title: The Oranges

Starring: Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener (‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’), Oliver Platt (‘2012,’ TV’s ‘The West Wing’), Allison Janney, Alia Shawkat (TV’s ‘Arrested Development’), Adam Brody and Leighton Meester

Friends and families can often fall into such a comfortable routine with each other that their once vibrant lives can subtly turn into despair. When even one member of the group realizes how unhappy they are with their life and isn’t afraid to go after what they want, the changes can be dire for everyone. This is certainly the case with the two families, who are also neighbors and close friends, in the new dramedy romance ‘The Oranges.’ When two members of the families embark on a taboo relationship, everyone realizes they have to make changes to their own lives to become happy as well.

‘The Oranges’ follows married couples and neighbors David and Paige Walling (played by Hugh Laurie and Catherine Keener) and Terry and Cathy Ostroff (portrayed by Oliver Platt and Allison Janney), who live on Orange Drive in suburban New Jersey. Their comfortable existence goes awry when the Ostroff’s prodigal daughter, Nina (played by Leighton Meester), who recently broke up with her fiancé, Ethan (portrayed by Sam Rosen), returns home for Thanksgiving after a five-year absence. Instead of developing a romantic interest in the Walling’s son Toby (played by Adam Brody), which would please both families, Nina develops a romantic interest in David.

When the emotional development between Nina and David grows, everyone’s lives are interrupted, particularly the Walling’s daughter Vanessa (portrayed by Alia Shawkat), Nina’s childhood best friend. The consequences of the affair soon break apart both families in unexpected ways. But it also leads everyone to reassess their lives, and reconsider what it means to be happy.

Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer, the writers of the comedy romance drama, created a dramatic, emotional story that realistically showcased the reasons relationships between spouses, friends and parents and children become strained over time. While the Wallings and Ostroffs have been friends and neighbors for over 20 years, their dinners, hobbies, holidays and bonds overall, have become so predictable and mundane they don’t know how to communicate or relate to each other anymore. It takes Cathy uncovering the affair between David and Nina to make both families realize they aren’t as happy with their lives as they’re pretending to be.

The initial idea of David having an affair with Nina, and ultimately leaving Paige to begin a romantic relationship with their friends’ daughter, who is half his age, is shocking. However, ‘The Oranges’ elegantly shows how the two are perfectly matched in their taboo relationship. At that moment in their lives, they’re both mourning the loss of the romantic relationships they once knew and cherished, and emotionally connect over not knowing how to move forward with their lives. As unconventional as their relationship is, the two are among the few in the film who know how to truly express their feelings to each other, and understand what the other is going through.

After their families initial disbelief, David and Nina are determined to make their relationship work, and prove they weren’t juts looking for the excitement of an affair. They both surprisingly found the meaningful emotional connection they’re yearning for from the other person. Their relationship, as much damage it caused to their families, helped them realize their lives haven’t turned out how they wanted, and they now have the courage to go after what they truly want.

Laurie, who was the first cast in ‘The Oranges,’ was the perfect choice to play David. The actor embodied a full range of emotions, from feeling estranged from, and betrayed by, his deteriorating relationship with, Paige. He also felt invigorated again by the sexual attention from Nina. Laurie, who previously worked with Meester on two episodes of ‘House’ in 2006, also infused David with the intelligence to fully explain his new-found feelings toward Nina to Paige, Vanessa, Terry and Cathy, so that he didn’t come across as wanting to take advantage of her.

While David and Nina do give their families heartache and grief as they embark on their relationship, director Julian Farino did infuse the film with an optimistic, uplifting message. As the Wallings and Ostroffs struggle to contend with the unexpected aftermath of the affair, they all surprisingly find ways to better themselves and reevaluate their lives.

Paige, for example, separates herself from her family and friends, questioning what her relationships have come to, as the affair has dismantled her purpose in life. She begins volunteering for a charity, realizing that she can help, and provide love to, less fortunate people around the world that she wasn’t able to do at home.

While Vanessa seems to be an unlikely narrator for ‘The Oranges,’ as she doesn’t have as big of a part as some of the other characters, she does provides a surprisingly judgmental view of her family, neighbors and herself throughout the course of the film. She expresses the feelings that everyone is thinking, but are too afraid to express publicly. Shawkat perfectly balances the character as being strong and funny as she provides her commentary, while also being vulnerable. She passionately expresses her objections to her father’s affair with Nina, but is also scared to go after what she truly wants in life.

The familiar, comfortable routine between family and friends can drastically change when at least one person begins to question their mundane lives and routines. While David and Nina become stuck in their lives, their perfect matching for each other in that moment provides humor and emotional depth to relatable feelings everyone has over how to change their lives. The emotional and comedic performances given by the actors give an insightful look into what happens when people start to experiment outside of their comfort zones.

Technical: B

Written by: Karen Benardello