Somewhere in A Good Old-Fashioned Orgy is the best film Judd Apatow never made, but even that might be crediting the comedy maestro with more nerve than he actually has. Had Orgy fully delivered on the prurience of its premise (and corresponding insight into permanent adolescence), it would have more closely resembled Y Tu Mama Tambien than the usual fare that seems to organically occur whenever comedians so much as run into each other at Chipotle. Its ultimate skittishness, however, serves to draw battle lines for another sexual revolution, one that might be able to find what was really funny about the concept of group sex, rather than just giggle about it for an hour and a half.
The principal cast of Orgy finds itself at the most uncomfortable point in any Gen-Xer's life: when they stand on the brink of not being young and cool anymore. Since their Breakfast Club-days, the crew here have gone in and out of jobs, relationships, and aspirations, but have consistently returned to Eric's (Jason Sudeikis) dad's house in the Hamptons for expensive parties, swimming, and any number of things that very few people in the world actually have the luxury of doing. So much so that when his dad announces plans to sell the place, you'd hope that their reaction would be to grow up, but naturally it isn't.
Sure, there have been moving/leaving home stories played to great empathic effect before; all of them involved people under the age of twenty and/or prison. That Eric's childish response (a running gag has him throwing realtor signs into the bushes) is meant to draw sympathy rather than disdain is Orgy's first of many disconnects with reality, but it does serve to illuminate something essential about the modern comedy set: acting like an adolescent some of the time (partying, flirting) tends to mean acting like a child all the time. When you take into account all of the adult skills that modern comedic characters seem to struggle with (holding down relationships, jobs), you'd think that they were hanging on to something pretty special, but it's frequently it's nothing better than basing your whole diet around breakfast cereal.
The choice made by the leads here could have been a pretty bold one; indeed, if you're going refuse adulthood for as long as you can, why not do one of the only things that you absolutely cannot do if you're going to be the head of a household (technically you can, but you're then of course forced into a certain level of responsibility that tends to be kind of a cold shower on something like this)? Knocked Up and Bridesmaids weren't brave enough to go here, as depicting something like this might alienate squeamish audience members forced to realize that maybe they're not as open-minded as they like to think they are. But even though it forms a whole movie around this idea, depicts it, and (SPOILER ALERT) nobody gets HIV, Orgy still feels like it sidestepped the real issue, probably because it just isn't that funny.
It'd be easy enough to blame that on David Koechner, whose mere presence seems to degrade anything he's in several IQ points, but a number of talented actors (Bell, Starr) just aren't as funny as we know them to be, and in their developed interactions feel that they should be. There's nothing wrong with obvious comedy, but it's a little disheartening to see a director reach for low-hanging fruit when his cast seems game to reach a little further. In settling to make Orgy as silly as it is, directors Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck make it easier to dismiss, but by missing the joke over and over, they miss an opportunity for something they might not have even wanted, but was absolutely stronger than what they have here.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Nothing out of the ordinary. There's a commentary, some deleted scenes, a gag reel, and a 'making-of'.
"A Good Old-Fashioned Orgy" is on sale December 27, 2011 and is not rated. Comedy. Directed by Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck. Written by Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck. Starring Jason Sudeikis, Lake Bell, Leslie Bibb, Martin Starr, Nick Kroll, Tyler Labine, Will Forte, Michelle Borth, Angela Sarafyan, Lindsay Sloane.
