Dir. by Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck - 1 hr. 35 min.
Official Red Band Trailer
by Clayton Hollifield
This is one of those movies that I had intended to catch at the three-dollar theatre, but it was there and gone in a week. So I threw it on my Netflix queue, and was disappointed to see that there wasn't even a Blu-Ray version available (I guess they never released this film in that format, which I didn't think happened to actual theatrical releases these days). But a month or so later, the HD version popped up on streaming, and I was saved from having to watch "A Good Old Fashioned Orgy" in (blech!) standard def. Thank goodness!
Eric (Jason Sudeikis) and his thirty-ish friends seem to have passed their twenties by throwing epic parties at his dad's summer house (Don Johnson, but he's only around for one scene). However, his playboy dad (I guess that's the right way to put it, he's got a much younger girl with him) has decided to sell the house, which leaves Eric with no playground. So, in honor of the end of an era, Eric has to come up with the perfect theme for their last party there, on Labor Day weekend. Eventually, he and his best friend, Mike (Tyler Labine) settle on the idea of an orgy amongst the inner circle of friends. Some of the people need some convincing, but eventually everyone is down with the idea.
This isn't built to be a classic, five-star comedy. It's a good basis for a funny R-rated comedy (and unrated home video release), and if you're down with the cast, you're going to have a good time. My main problem was that it took me a little while to buy the chemistry between the crew (which also included Leslie Bibb, Lake Bell, Nick Kroll from "The League," Michelle Borth, Angela Sarafyan, and Martin Starr), but once I got used to the idea of this as a batch of long-time friends, the movie went a lot more smoothly. It would be weird not to mention that while all the women in the film were absolutely smoking hot (seriously, take your pick, they all did their pilates to get ready for this movie), the guys were more comedically-built (and Labine was naked more than any other actor in the film). I don't exactly have a problem with that; the women held their own in terms of comedy, and it's a completely different film to have the guys all ripped and cracking jokes (a little more, shall we say, bro-tastic. Fraternity-sympathetic, in other words), and as a male viewer, that totally worked in my favor. But ladies might be a little disappointed if they're hoping for equal quality eye-candy.
But this is a pretty funny movie, especially if you're in the mood for something like "Hall Pass" or "Horrible Bosses." There are a few laugh-out loud scenes (particularly David Koechner's scene, playing Labine's uncle), and enough adult-oriented (read: dildos) stuff to back up the title. The progression of events in the film and the inevitable wrinkle in the plot works and feels true; it may be a comedy, but it's not a complete caricature. "A Good Old-Fashioned Orgy" is what it promises to be, and it goes by painlessly and quickly. You should know if this sort of thing is up your alley or not. I enjoyed a raunchy comedy from time to time, and I'm glad I finally got to see it (and not in yucky standard definition, either).
2.5 / 5 - Streaming
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