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Orange County | 2002 | PG-13 | - 4.4.5

A graduating senior with a very high GPA aspires to be a great writer and desperately wants to get away from his less-than-normal family and go to Stanford University. But his college plans are squashed repeatedly due to one family crisis after another, and are derailed when a guidance counselor accidentally sends the wrong transcript with his college application. With Colin Hanks, Jack Black, Catherine O'Hara, Leslie Mann and Schuyler Fisk. [1:23]

SEX/NUDITY 4 - A young woman kisses a young man passionately while lying in bed, a young woman kisses two young men passionately while sitting in what looks like a huge shower stall, and a young woman kisses a janitor passionately (hard to tell the janitor's gender). A young man and woman kiss passionately while lying down in the back of a car. A man and woman kiss passionately and slide down to the floor out of view (we see them later in bed apparently after having had sex). A man kisses a young man while under the influence of drugs. A young man and woman kiss passionately, and a young man and woman kiss. A man tries to seduce a woman and drops his pants (we see his bare legs from the back and see them both in their underwear later, apparently after having had sex). A man and woman walk out of a burning building in their underwear. A group of young woman dance suggestively in a few scenes. A man applies suntan lotion on a woman's bare back. A woman suggestively touches the spout of a man's leaf blower. We see a man in his jockey shorts several times and a man's pants slip down to his hips and we see his buttock cleavage. We see several beach scenes with bare-chested men and women in bikinis. There are scenes of cheerleaders in tight and short outfits revealing cleavage and bare midriffs, and a woman wears a tight sweater. A woman graphically describes her husband's infidelities. A dog makes a sexual advance toward a woman's leg.

VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - A surfer is killed by a huge wave; we see him on his surfboard at the foot of the wave and then hear that he drown. A man in a wheelchair is pushed into a bookcase, a vase falls on his head and breaks, and we see him with a bloody bandage on his head. A man in a wheelchair rolls down a flight of stairs backwards and hits a parked car. A man drives recklessly and nearly rear-ends a few cars. A young man falls into a pool, the people witnessing it assume he's drowning and one jumps in after him. A man falls through a window and lands hard on the floor, a young man falls off a roof and lands hard on the ground, and a man tumbles down a hill and lies on the ground unable to get up. A man, passed out on a bathroom floor, is hit in the head by the door opening. A young man is hit in the head with an empty beer can. A man and his son argue a few times. A young man yells at a woman and she knees him in the crotch. A man throws a flaming piece of paper into a garbage can which sets some curtains on fire and then we see the whole building in flames. A man vomits and we see the emission, a man asks another man if he'll give him a urine sample and we see the sample in a cup a couple of times, a young woman is shown sitting near a toilet looking pallid (we assume she's just vomited), a man makes a comment about an odor on a couch and a woman explains that it's urine. A woman stumbles down some stairs. A dog snaps at a woman's nose, and a dog tears up a car seat. Two young men repeatedly talk about wanting to blow up stuff.

LANGUAGE 5 - 1 F-word, 1 almost articulated F-word, 1 obscene hand gesture, 4 scatological terms, 6 anatomical terms (one in subtitles), 10 sexual references, 4 homosexual references, 5 mild obscenities, 3 religious profanities, 6 religious exclamations, insults.

SUBSTANCE USE - There are many instances of and references to drug and alcohol use and abuse; one character is hung over throughout the entire movie. Men and women are shown smoking cigarettes in a few scenes. A man has a huge stash of drugs spread out on a desktop.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Quality of educators and education, parenting, divorce, regret, inspiration.

MESSAGE - There's always hope. Pay attention, your inspiration may be right under your nose.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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