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MOVIES / ON DVD / FRESHMAN ORIENTATION
Freshman Orientation

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Freshman Orientation (2007)

33%
33%
0%
N/A
N/A
N/A
33 %
Reviews Counted: 21 Fresh: 7  Rotten:14 Average Rating: 4.8/10
 
Consensus: This over-the-top comedy suffers from an exhaustive screenplay, which tries too hard to be funny…and fails.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins

Synopsis: A typical Midwestern 18 year-old freshman at a large state university eager to delve the college party life, instead he discovers that school is not the beer-driven, sexual fantasy of his imagination. Determined to do anything to obtain the girl of his dreams (a gorgeous but reluctant... A typical Midwestern 18 year-old freshman at a large state university eager to delve the college party life, instead he discovers that school is not the beer-driven, sexual fantasy of his imagination. Determined to do anything to obtain the girl of his dreams (a gorgeous but reluctant sorority girl), he decides to adopt a gay identity in order to insinuate himself in her life. This casual charade, however, quickly lands him in a morass of campus activism, gender warfare, fraternity hazes, sorority torture, "coming out" narratives, political martyrdom, and ultimately, a university-wide meltdown. [More]

Genre: Comedies

Starring: Sam Huntington, Marla Sokoloff, Heather Matarazzo, Kaitlin Doubleday, Bryce Johnson

Director: Ryan Shiraki
Screenwriter: Ryan Shiraki
Producer: Dan Halsted, Stavros Merjos, Adam Rosenfelt
Composer: Tomandandy

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image
2/5

Admirably aiming to recreate the feelings of newfound freedom and self-discovery that college inspires, Freshman Orientation never finds a way to successfully execute its good intentions.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/08/07
Geoff Berkshire
Metromix.com
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N/A

You enter expecting something really stupid, and you wind up with something really clever . . . hysterical . . . wise.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/20/07
Brandon Judell
New York Theatre Wire
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N/A

John Goodman has a nice turn as a queen with a heart of gold.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/28/07
Joshua Katzman
Chicago Reader
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1/4

...might push boundaries better were it not so painfully unfunny.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/28/07
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide
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2/4

...goes way over the top for the Greeks vs. Gays climax.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/28/07
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
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4/5

A campus comedy with a dirty mouth, an innocent heart and a surprisingly wise mind, Freshman Orientation uses identity politics as a road to romance and emotional maturity. The naked breasts are a bonus.

comment Comment
09/28/07
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
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N/A

The charms of this college gross-out comedy with a "message" are elusive.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/27/07
Frank Lovece
Film Journal International
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2/4

Consider my two-star rating an indication that the film's Gut-Buster-to-Forehead-Slapper ratio is relatively even.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/23/07
Ed Gonzalez
Slant Magazine
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1.5/4

This trivial film toys with the postmodern lifestyles.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/21/07
Bill Stamets
Chicago Sun-Times
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1.5/4

Freshman Orientation is not incompetently made. Nor is it badly acted. But there’s not a fresh idea in it, and everyone on screen seems to be in a different comedy.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/20/07
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
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2/5

OK, it's official: I no longer care about 18 year olds.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/18/07
Don Willmott
Filmcritic.com
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1/5

Theatres showing it will likely have as many conspicuously empty seats as the classrooms and barrooms in this picture, which was apparently shot on such a shoestring that they couldn’t even get enough extras to fill a set.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/15/07
Chad Greene
Boxoffice Magazine
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2/4

Freshman Orientation barely rates a passing grade.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/01/07
Timothy Knight
Reel.com
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2.5/5

...too often feels more like a tapped-out keg than a provocative romp.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/31/07
Robert Abele
Los Angeles Times
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2/4

A genderbending teensploit turning on a clever twist of the genre's trademark theme. For while most makeover movies feature a female making herself more attractive, this flick has a male deliberately doing the opposite.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/31/07
Kam Williams
DallasBlack.com
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D

Writer/director Ryan Shiraki certainly adds some youthful exuberance to his debut feature film, but it's all wasted on a tremendously misguided and exhaustively dim screenplay

Full Review | comment Comment
08/31/07
Brian Orndorf
eFilmCritic.com
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N/A

There are other things to like about writer-director Ryan Shiraki’s college comedy, mainly that it feels more real than most... Just one problem: It isn’t particularly funny.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/30/07
Luke Y. Thompson
L.A. Weekly
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2.5/4

Freshman Orientation feels a bit like a missed opportunity. It's too bad the motion picture as a whole isn't as quirky and clever as its double-edged title.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/29/07
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
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2.5/4

Blessedly shrewd where it counts and deserves notice. The lessons develop naturally and aren't jammed down the viewer's throat like the hypocritical sermonizing in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/23/07
Dustin Putman
TheMovieBoy.com
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3/4

I was honored and privileged to say that I saw a film at Sundance that actually captured the fun of pretending to be gay to win a sorority sister.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/18/04
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com
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