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A Good Old Fashioned Orgy: Unrated
R1 - America - Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (1st June 2012). |
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The Film
 Although he may be one of the most consistently funny people on the program, I’m happy to see Jason Sudeikis leaving his post on “Saturday Night Live” (1975-present). I’ve always looked at SNL as a sort of training academy for comedians looking to hone their skills, develop memorable characters, build an audience, and then skip out when the studio money starts pouring in for theatrical features. That or you wind up languishing there for an eternity, never to headline your own film, becoming something of an elder statesman amongst the group. I’m looking at you, Darrell Hammond. But that fate won’t befall Sudeikis, who is coming off one of his best years ever. 2011 saw him star in the comedy hit “Horrible Bosses”, as well as the under appreciated “Hall Pass” (trust me, it’s funnier than you think it is), and he opened 2012 with a hilarious guest role on HBO’s “Eastbound & Down” (2009-present). I find a large part of his appeal to be that he doesn’t need to act like some goofy ass, relying on corny characters and annoying voices to convince audiences that he’s a funny guy. His comedy is more of a straight man’s approach, using well-placed lines and facial movements to his advantage. Hell, most people think he’s the funniest part of the SNL sketch “What’s Up With That?” (you know, the one where Keenan plays an ever-singing talk show host) and all he does is dance in place like a madman without speaking a single line. I think he’s only begun to scratch the surface of his potential in film, which is likely the reason why he’s moving on from sketch television comedy. I don’t know if he can rise to the level of other SNL alumni, such as Eddie Murphy or Adam Sandler, but if he maintains his current trajectory (and gets himself in with the right scripts), I see him enjoying a long life on the big screen. His latest theatrical romp, “A Good Old Fashioned Orgy” (2011) didn’t get a whole lot of notice. Actually, it got almost zero, with an opening on only 145 screens and a box office take less than a low-ranking CEO’s yearly pay. Truth be told, this isn’t some overlooked gem that should have been given a major rollout, but it is a funny movie with a good cast that will probably meet or just barely exceed your expectations. The premise is simple: a group of thirty-somethings love to hang out, get wasted and party at their friend Eric’s (Jason Sudeikis) summer family home. One day, Eric’s dad (Don Johnson, looking a little grizzled) shows up and informs him that the house is being put on the market and will likely be sold by the end of the summer. The group wants to go out with one last big bash, and what better theme than an orgy? What starts out as a ridiculous idea that everyone condemns immediately slowly becomes a feasible notion that gains momentum as the idea germinates in their minds. Will they? Won’t they? I won’t say, but the film doesn’t become as formulaic as I was expecting. The supporting cast around Sudeikis feels like a group that’s been working together for ages, and that camaraderie really shows through in their performances. I’m glad the writers didn’t take the obvious route and write everyone as caricatures we’ve seen in a thousand and one movies before. These people all act like real people, for the most part, so their actions and reasoning doesn’t seem so outlandish. I expected to get a lot of one-dimensional personalities thrown into a blender, but they’ve done a good job of making the personalities and relationships feel organic, with a few exceptions. It was nice to see Martin Starr getting some love as a musician so concerned with his image that he’s never released any material. Each character gets their moment to shine, and since the entire plot is essentially about them planning an orgy, there’s nothing else for the film to focus on but the antics of the group. I can’t say this is the type of comedy that most people will find laugh out loud hilarious – the plot is, after all, as threadbare as they come – but there were enough solid laughs to keep me amused until the end credits, and I’m a notoriously tough customer when it comes to comedy. I did find it a bit odd that the orgy only consisted of Eric and his immediate circle of friends. I expected the film to revolve around a group of guys scouring for ladies to join in the festivities; I didn’t think those ladies would happen to be the ones these characters have known for most of their adult lives. I’m fairly certain that if I were throwing an orgy, and I was a single guy, I’d be hunting down all the Grade A ass I laid eyes on. These guys almost make the orgy seem lazy by only asking the people they party with every weekend. Haven’t these guys heard of the internet? Sure, back in the stone ages you’d have to brave going out to public places in search of women for such activities, but this is 2012. I’m sure there are at least a hundred sites where women are eager to meet up with men and women for a weekend of debauchery. I wish we’d seen the guys doing more legwork to get a better variety of women in on the act, although we do get some good scenes where the guys infiltrate an underground sex club looking for suggestions on how to host their own sex party. The DVD for “A Good Old Fashioned Orgy” contains the "Unrated Cut" of the film which, according to IMDB, runs for 3 minutes longer than the 95 minute theatrical version. I can’t find a source to outline what the differences between the cuts are, but I would imagine it’s nothing of terrible value. This cut features a lot of boobs and, for once, no penises. Full frontal male nudity has seemingly become a staple of most gross out comedies made today, and while it doesn’t bother me I also don’t need to see it in every movie. A dick isn’t all that funny… usually.
Video
Unfortunately, Sony has declined to release “A Good Old Fashioned Orgy” on Blu-ray, so this DVD is all that is available for the immediate future. The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen image appears solid enough, but – and I hate to sound like a broken record here - , when your eyes have become accustomed to bathing in the glorious glow of high-definition imagery, watching something in standard definition only serves to highlight the deficiencies of this elder format. The picture looks perfect reasonable considering its limitations. Skin tones and colors are generally pleasing, though both lack the apparent “pop” that comes from Blu-ray. Black levels hold up nicely, with very little crushing observed even in the darkest of night. The biggest hit the film takes is in sharpness and fine detail, which is practically non-existent because of the image limitations. Sony is one major studio that has already started to farm out some of their catalog titles to smaller companies for Blu-ray release, since they’ve publicly said that they don’t see the market for many of these releases. Now, they’re taking things one step further and not even granting new titles a decent release on home video. If you’re going to only put out one release, at least make it a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, which seems to be all the rage from just about everyone else these days. That way customers all around are satisfied, but by putting out one single DVD they’re already cutting sales since many people who own a Blu-ray player will opt to skip it entirely.
Audio
There’s not much to say about the film’s English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound track. I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more range to the track, but such is the nature of most comedies. These are dialogue driven films, and this one gets the message out clean and clear via the front end of your system. Some surround use comes into play during party scenes, but it’s done sparingly. Subtitles are available in English for the hearing impaired.
Extras
The audio commentary with writers/directors Alex Gregory & Peter Huyck and star Jason Sudeikis isn’t a groundbreaking track, but it is an amusing one. Most of the discussion veers towards what influenced them to make the film, casting, locations, and noteworthy production anecdotes. It’s all standard fare for the most part, but the track is laid back enough to make it an easy listen. There are several deleted scenes included for the following: - “Kate Has a Guy for Sue” runs for 1 minute and 12 seconds, she offers to set up one of the girls. - “Ironic Party” runs for 37 seconds, the group questions the motivations for throwing a “white trash” party. - “Church Group” runs for 2 minutes and 32 seconds, Laura finds out her “cool” Christian group isn’t very accepting. - “Give Him Anal” runs for 1 minute, Sue suggests Kate (Lucy Punch) give up something special on her wedding night. - “Friends are Idiots” runs for 1 minute and 1 second, Glenn (Will Forte) gets mad during his wedding. - “Clink” runs for 4 minutes and 50 seconds, this is mostly an extension of the guys at the health clinic. - “Frisbee Golf” runs for 1 minute and 46 seconds, more of Eric on his big date. - “You Were Mean” runs for 1 minute and 45 seconds, Mike gets his feelings hurt. - “Moment” runs for 1 minute and 17 seconds, Eric trying to keep one of the ladies quiet ruins her focus. - “Truth or Dare” runs for 57 seconds, the group takes a break to play a game. A gag reel runs for 4 minutes and 52 seconds. “How To Film An Orgy” is a featurette that runs for 8 minutes and 27 seconds. This piece highlights a few of the film’s major set pieces (the party, the sex club, the orgy) by offering a behind the scenes glimpse at the actors shooting. A few candid interviews are peppered throughout, with just about everyone getting a little face time to talk about what they’re doing in the film. Bonus trailers are included for the following releases: - “Blu-ray promo” runs for 2 minutes and 28 seconds. - “Drive” runs for 2 minutes and 27 seconds. - “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” runs for 2 minutes and 32 seconds. - “Hostel III” runs for 1 minute and 21 seconds. - “Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star” runs for 2 minutes and 21 seconds.
Packaging
The single disc comes housed in a standard keep case with standard ensemble comedy artwork (i.e. everyone sitting together, looking at the camera).
Overall
Is it great? No, but it’s fun, and that’s really all you need to know. The cast is a lively bunch, with no one member really standing out as being the weak link. This is one of those films that you’re likely to watch during a night of heavy Netflix surfing, or if it happens to be on a pay station while you’re flicking around. Sony obviously didn’t think enough of it to give it a Blu-ray release, but this DVD is perfectly acceptable for a film you’re likely to watch a few times, if that.
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