The Oranges (2011)

Plot: Married couples David and Paige Walling and Terry and Cathy Ostroff are longtime "neighbors across the street" in suburban West Orange, New Jersey, and best friends, they who do everything together. They both outwardly present that their marriages are perfect as is, but David copes by hiding in his man cave from Paige and her little pet projects, like her Christmas carolers who start rehearsing in the summer, and controlling Cathy only pretends to listen to Terry while he rambles on, especially about his many gadgets. Of their combined three now young adult offspring, only twenty-four year old Vanessa Walling still lives at home, she a design school grad whose delayed plan is to work on her portfolio before getting a design job and apartment in the city. Vanessa and the Ostroffs' only offspring, twenty-four year old Nina Ostroff, used to be best friends when they were growing up, but Vanessa now believes Nina to be a self-absorbed bitch. Nina left home supposedly for good five years ago to travel the world not having yet returned to get out from under Cathy's control, Nina currently living in San Francisco just engaged to an artist named Ethan, which doesn't sit well with especially Cathy. With no plan beyond the actually holiday day, Nina unexpectedly comes home for Thanksgiving, having just broken up with a cheating Ethan. Cathy senses an opportunity as the Wallings' son, Toby Walling, who works for the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, is also coming home for Thanksgiving, Cathy who would like to see her only daughter marry her best friends' son. However it is another relationship that develops over the holidays between the two families. When this relationship comes to light, it causes an upheaval in both families. It does however make each of the Wallings and Ostroffs truly and critically evaluate whether they are happy, whether happiness as an end justifies any means, and whether those means should be viewed under the lens of social norms.

Alternative Plot: A man's (Hugh Laurie) affair with his friend's much-younger daughter (Leighton Meester) throws two neighboring families into turmoil.

Rate this movie!

Rated

Movie review by visitors

Have you seen this movie; Write a review
To be able to rate the movie, your review must exceed 350 characters