'A Good Old Fashioned Orgy' review

Jason Sudeikis and Tyler Labine (Credit: Samuel Goldwyn)

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Thirtysomething man-child Eric Keppler (Jason Sudeikis) indulges in raucous theme parties every summer at his father’s vacation house in the Hamptons. When Eric’s dad (Don Johnson) puts the home up for sale, Eric and his closest friends—including loutish Mike (Tyler Labine), insecure Laura (Lindsay Sloane), aggressive Alison (Lake Bell), aspiring rocker Doug (Martin Starr), workaholic Adam (Nick Kroll), and sweetly sexy Sue (Michelle Borth)—decide to throw one last blow out with the wildest theme of all: a no-holds-barred orgy.

The verdict: After the summer’s all-out assault of R-rated comedy, there’s not much need for a low-budget raunchfest as low on inspiration as it is on production value. Writer-directors Alex Gregory and Pete Huyck have been working on this project since their days on HBO’s dearly beloved “The Larry Sanders Show,” but all those years of development aren’t evident on screen. Don’t fault the actors, they bring a genuine sense of camaraderie to the pile-up of lazy jokes and sketchy characters. Their efforts finally pay off, sort of, when the meandering story arrives at its titular destination. There’s nothing jaw-droppingly outrageous about the climax (it’s more Comedy Central primetime than John Waters in his prime), but that’s when bad timing starts to work in the film’s favor. Compared to the fake edginess of Hollywood hits like “Bad Teacher” and “Horrible Bosses,” “Orgy” almost feels rebellious.

Follow Metromix's Geoff Berkshire on Twitter: @geoffberkshire

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