Jeffrey Wright shares his favorite military movies after working with veterans in his new documentary "We Are Not Done Yet."
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Title: The Oranges (2011)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Alia Shawkat | ... | Vanessa | |
| Hugh Laurie | ... | David | |
| Oliver Platt | ... | Terry | |
| Allison Janney | ... | Cathy | |
| Catherine Keener | ... | Paige | |
| Ian Helfer | ... | Christmas Caroler | |
| Marceline Hugot | ... | Christmas Caroler | |
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Laura Flanagan | ... | Christmas Caroler |
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Curtis McClarin | ... | Christmas Caroler |
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Jay Reiss | ... | Christmas Caroler |
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Sarah Saltzberg | ... | Christmas Caroler |
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Sam Rosen | ... | Ethan |
| Leighton Meester | ... | Nina | |
| Adam Brody | ... | Toby | |
| Aya Cash | ... | Maya | |
In conservative West Orange, New Jersey, the Ostroff and Walling families are very close. David Walling and Terry Ostroff are inseparable best friends and run together everyday. David has problems with his wife, Paige. He frequently sleeps alone in his office. Their daughter, Vanessa, is frustrated because she has not succeeded in her career as a designer. Their son, Toby, is moving to China on a temporary assignment. Terry's wife, Cathy, ignores him. Their daughter Nina moved to San Francisco five years ago. Near Thanksgiving, Nina's boyfriend Ethan betrays her at his birthday party and Nina returns to her parents house. Nina argues with her mother and draws closer to David. Soon they have an affair and fall in love, turning the lives of the people close to them upside-down. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
I saw this movie with zero previous knowledge and it really impressed me. Two neighbouring families in New Jersey (in an area known as The Oranges because the cities there all have the term Orange in their names -- hence the title of the movie) live harmonically next to each other. The children have grown up together, the men go jogging together, they celebrate the holidays together. They have normal problems -- one daughter doesn't seem to get on with her life, the other plans to marry a deadbeat, then breaks up with him because she caught him cheating on her. Her meddling mother wants to hook her up with their neighbour's A-student son, but the wayward daughter opts for his dad (played by Hugh Laurie) instead. Actually, a plausible choice at that point. She's fed up with college boys, needs stability, and they do care for each other. Her new manfriend feels rejuvenated since his marriage has been in the doldrums for some time. After the unlikely lovebirds have kissed, and even before their first date in a no-tell-motel, their budding affair is exposed. And a lot of hell breaks loose.
The movie plays out a conundrum scenario. On the one hand, there's nothing wrong with an loving relationship between two consenting adults, right? Nina, the girl hooking up with her family guy neighbour, says it herself in one scene: "But what if there was no wrong? ... There is no wrong." On the other hand, the very proximity between all persons involved turns against the love affair between Nina and David (family guy). David's daughter feels this most acutely: she doesn't want to become a nagging moralizer for family values. On the other hand, she doesn't want her former schoolmate Nina to become her new stepmom either.
I find this a great movie about an interesting moral dilemma.