46
Metascore
23 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 63Boston GlobeTy BurrBoston GlobeTy BurrMaybe The Oranges does represent a middle-age male fantasy, but Laurie lets you see its pitfalls as well as its pleasures.
- 60Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzArizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzUltimately, however, what prevents The Oranges from being the movie it might have been is Farino's inability to settle on a tone.
- 58The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayOverall, The Oranges appears to have been forcibly wrested into a conventional indie-dramedy package, rather than finding the length, style, structure, and perhaps medium that would best suit it.
- 50ObserverRex ReedObserverRex ReedThe film is worth seeing for the excellent ensemble work by a cast that, although diligent and appealing, remain somewhat less than thrilling. They do their best to plumb the depths of domestic dysfunction, but in the end, The Oranges does not quite deliver the goods.
- 40Village VoiceVillage VoiceThe Oranges, an extremely dry comedy directed by Julian Farino, is kind of like a takedown of the suburbs written by the people who designed the menu at Olive Garden: It's inoffensive, forgettable, and you don't actually have to chew anything.
- 40Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenThe Oranges has little original shading.
- 40New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanEven the actors seem disconnected, with only Leighton Meester - who has the most to prove - working to create a distinguishable character.
- 20Time OutEric HynesTime OutEric HynesNeither Janney nor Keener can rise above the rote hatefulness of their madwoman caricatures, whereas Laurie and Meester fare better at playing liberated dreamers who go against the dreaded grain. But shooting fish in a barrel tends to unintentionally conjure sympathy for the fish - or, in this case, for perfectly unhappy suburbanites.
- 0Slant MagazineSlant MagazineAs much as the dialogue in the film voices an attitude of self-liberation and champions the positives of severing accepted social constraints, it seems to be constantly taking one step forward and two steps back.