2004, USA
Comedy, Drama, Romance
READ THE REVIEW AT The Desert Sun.
Ah, college -- so many hormones, so little time. Too bad the plot of Freshman Orientation does not stray far from that focus to add anything new to the well-tread genre.
Sam Huntington (not so ironically from Not Another Teen Movie) plays yet another teen trying to get the girl by acting as someone he is not. In this unoriginal story, his character, Clay, pretends to be gay so that hottie Amanda (Kaitlin Doubleday) will ask him to the Freak Fest -- a sorority torment ritual. Only he does not know that is her plan, because he is an idiot.
Who knows what kept this 2004 flick on the shelves, but the possibilities are endless. Every scene is predictable because it is the usual recycled format from a scriptwriter who must have stayed up all night watching conflicted-teen romances. Can't Buy Me Love meets Never Been Kissed and then is tackled by Revenge of the Nerds, complete with John Goodman in a very un-Coach Harris role.
Providing another reason to stick solely to Coen Brothers films, Goodman acts as fairy godmother to Clay when he seeks the way of the Force -- the pink, flamboyantly gay Force as seen through the rose-colored glasses of Goodman's gay bar owner. In his unwarranted attempt to portray a gay persona, he somehow misses the glaring fact that his roommate is gay (Mike Erwin looking very Cillian Murphy) and that for some reason said roomie is hankering for a hunk of Clay.
There is a gaggle of annoying sidekicks to distract from the boring and barely hindered love line of Clay and Amanda. Rachel Dratch is a misplaced "Very Drunk Chick" who sticks out as an older sore thumb even when explained as being a career student since 1991. Heather Matarazzo (Welcome to the Dollhouse) wastes any indie cred she is attempting to maintain by swimming with the stereotypes in her portrayal of a Jewish girl who must snag a Muslim for the Freak Fest. She even utters "No big whoop" and "Hello, gorgeous" in the same breath.
Meanwhile, the rest of the campus vaguely battles between Greek royalty and the LGBT loud-and-proud outcasts. As everyone struggles to find their own identity, they takes turns swapping personalities.