Eric (Jason Sudekis) and his friends are new to their thirties, and they regularly throw the most amazing parties, often including hundreds of others. When the freeloading Eric learns that his father, Jerry (Don Johnson), is selling the summer home where these bangers take place he knows that he must come up with a plan for one final blowout. As he and his friends panic and attempt to figure out what to do for their final party, they determine that the best way to celebrate the end of the summer is with A Good Old Fashioned Orgy. As they prepare to end the summer in style, an outsider, Kelly (Leslie Bibb), shows up and throws a wrench in their plans. The group, that has been friends since college, will put those friendships on the line for one last extravaganza, but, just maybe, the impending orgy will have some lasting positive effects.
Every once in a while, viewers need access to a lighthearted, mindless comedy to help take their minds off of the harsh realities of the world around them. However, sometimes those anticipatedly simple films possess layers of knowledge and insight that transcend audiences and deliver something more than just humor. A Good Old Fashioned Orgy delivers on all fronts, and in ways that audiences never expected. Actors like Sudekis and Nick Kroll (Adam) do a wonderful job of providing audiences with endless comedy. Their juxtaposition of intense, raunchy humor and dry humor allow a wide variety of viewers to appreciate the script and the film. Lake Bell (Alison), in many ways plays the devil’s advocate throughout the film and presents audiences with a simple, but accurate, description of the human psyche, which adds some depth to the film.
The humor that writers and directors Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck develop is wonderfully fun and refreshing. While the comedy in A Good Old Fashioned Orgy is often vulgar, the delivery by each and every character was nearly perfect, and their chemistry with one another makes their deliveries even more enjoyable. Oddly enough, it is not any of the high-end Hollywood talents that steals the show, it is Tyler Labine (McGrudden) who shines the brightest from beginning to end. His charisma and his talent add to the films appeal and add levels of raunch that most of the other actors are incapable of bringing to the table
Gregory and Huyck’s script is simple enough to be accessible to the masses, layered enough to add dimensions of sophistication and raunchy enough to appeal to the dirty minded. All of these aspects of the script are intertwined and create a film that is what the audience will make of it. They can choose to sit back and enjoy the mindlessness of the story or they can dive deep into the human psyche with Bell. I am impressed with the storytelling ability of the two writers/directors. With the right cast, like they have in A Good Old Fashioned Orgy, the two are likely to find success in the future.
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