The notion of suburban malaise is nothing new, and it’s been well-mined in plenty of novels and movies and TV shows already.  Wisely, “The Oranges” is not trying to blow the lid off the notion that marriages sometimes crumble or that suburbia frequently hides secrets behind its white picket fences. 

Instead, the script by Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer is a no-apologies comedy, and it gives the large ensemble cast some juicy material to play, allowing them to really run wild.  Director Julian Farino, making his feature debut, has a great sense of character and timing, and the result is a movie that some distributor is going to make good money with, as long as they cut the right trailer.

After all, look at their cast.  You’ve got Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Allison Janney, Leighton Meester, Alia Shawkat, and Adam Brody, and they’re all very good in the film.  It’s a true ensemble comedy, too.  Shawkat’s character Vanessa is the narrator of the film and the daughter of David (Laurie) and Paige (Keener).  They live across the street from their best friends, Carol (Janney) and Terry (Platt), and their kids all grew up together.  They do everything as a group, and at the start of the film, Vanessa talks about how she has two families.  She used to be just as tight with Nina, the daughter of Carol and Terry, but Nina wanted to see the world, and as soon as she could leave West Orange, New Jersey, she did, and she never looked back.  Vanessa is one of those people who wants a career and a life, but is held back by fear and inertia, and so her resentment of Nina is very specific.  It’s not just that they fell out as friends; Nina is living the life Vanessa wanted, but could never really manage.

The film really kicks into gear when Nina returns home for Thanksgiving unexpectedly.  It’s the first time in five years that she’s been back, and she’s grown up quite a bit in that time.  Her effect on David is immediate, and no matter how wrong he knows it is, he finds himself helpless to resist her.  At first, I thought we were going to watch a long, protracted “American Beauty”-style game about a guy trying to figure out his attraction to a younger woman, dancing around a taboo but never really indulging it.  Nope.  David and Nina are busted the first time they try to sneak off to a motel, and their attraction is like a hand grenade that detonates both families.  Once their secret is out in the open, instead of driving them apart, it seems to give them permission to be together.  David and Paige really are at a point where their marriage is a habit, and not one that seems to work for either one of them at all, and so David decides to chase some happiness with this younger woman, ignoring who she is and what it means to his friends and family. • Read full story…

North American rights to director Julian Farino’s “The Oranges” have been nabbed by ATO PIctures, the company said Friday night. The Toronto ‘11 title starring Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Allison Janney, Alia Shawkat, Adam Brody and Leighton Meester will have an “aggressive platform release” beginning in 2012.”

Full acquisition release follows:

NY based ATO PICTURES proudly announced today that it has acquired all North American rights to THE ORANGES, one of the most buzzed about Toronto titles directed by Julian Farino making his feature film debut.

Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Allison Janney, Alia Shawkat, Adam Brody and Leighton Meester star.

David and Paige Ostroff (Laurie and Keener) and Terry and Cathy Walling (Platt and Janney) are best friends and neighbors living on Orange Drive in suburban New Jersey.  Their comfortable existence goes awry when prodigal daughter Nina Ostroff (Meester), newly broken up with her fiancé Ethan (Sam Rosen), returns home for Thanksgiving after a five-year absence.  Rather than developing an interest in Toby Walling (Brody), the successful son of her neighbors which would please both families, it’s her parents’ best friend David who captures Nina’s attention.  When the connection between Nina and David becomes undeniable, everyone’s lives are thrown into upheaval, particularly Vanessa Walling’s (Shawkat), Nina’s childhood best friend.  It’s not long before the ramifications of the affair begin to work on all of the family members in unexpected and hilarious ways, leading everyone to reassess what it means to be happy and how sometimes what looks like a disaster, turns out to be the one thing we need the most. • Read full story…

I have uploaded new event photos of Leighton Meester arrives at ‘The Oranges’ Premiere at Ryerson Theatre during the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2011 in Toronto, Canada.

I have uploaded new promotional movie still of Leighton in ‘The Oranges‘.

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• (x001) The Oranges: Stills

I’ve added new high quality filming photos of Leighton Meester onlocation of ‘The Oranges’ on April 29, 2010.

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• (x020) The Oranges: Filming – April 29, 2010

I’ve added new filming photos of Leighton onlocation of ‘The Oranges’ movie on April 27, 2010.

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• (x005) The Oranges: Filming – April 27, 2010

I’ve added new filming photos of Leighton onlocation of ‘The Oranges’ movie.

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• (x013) The Oranges: Filming – April 21, 2010

I’ve added new filming photos of Leighton onlocation of ‘The Oranges’ movie on April 11, 2010.

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• (x025) The Oranges: Filming – April 11, 2010

I’ve added new filming photos of Leighton onlocation of her new movie, ‘The Oranges’ on April 1, 2010. The film is set to release in year 2011.

GALLERY LINK:

• (x037) The Oranges: Filming – April 1, 2010

‘Gossip Girl’ star joins Hugh Laurie in indie dramatic comedy.

Leighton Meester of “Gossip Girl” will star in indie dramatic comedy “The Oranges” opposite Hugh Laurie.

Production companies are Media Rights Capital, FilmNation and Olympus Pictures. Anthony Bregman, FilmNation’s Glen Basner and Leslie Urdang of Olympus are producing.

Script by Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer centers on a man’s romantic relationship with the daughter of a family friend, which turns their lives upside down. Julian Farino will direct, with shooting expected to begin in April in New York City. Catherine Keener’s also been cast.

Meester will be seen next in Warner’s “Date Night” and upcoming Screen Gems thriller “The Roommate.” She’s repped by WME and Leverage Entertainment.

Source: Variety