A Good Old Fashioned Orgy 2011

Jake Coyle, Associated Press: Gregory and Huyck don't go far in exploring the weirdness and emotional difficulty that a group of lifelong friends might create in sleeping together -- they want so much for a carefree holiday from such concerns. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: In essence, this is an indie Adam Sandler comedy, and when its heroes are psyching themselves up for the big event, it's kind of funny. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: [It's] undercut by a jokey, smart-aleck approach to every scene that plays like disposable sitcom humor. Read more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: While the cast... stay in there swinging, as it were, the comedic arousal factor remains... largely limp. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: We may not yet have arrived at "Brave New World," but this movie about a group of 30ish friends inhibited by the threat of AIDS from sexually running wild, suggests we are lurching and bumbling in that direction. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: The plot, a slow build to the will-they-or-won't-they climax, relies less on bared flesh than a humorous sense of squareness... Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: Gregory and Huyck's underachieving film is like a smart but lazy student who doesn't feel the need to study. It's good enough to pass, but could benefit from much more ambition. Read more

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: Grab a brew, check your sophistication at the door and just enjoy the ride. Read more

Loren King, Boston Globe: There's a pretty decent comedy somewhere in "A Good Old Fashioned Orgy,'' if only it wasn't so attracted to everyone else in the room. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: By accident or design, the resolution here is morally ambiguous and vaguely distasteful, which may be the reason I liked it. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: There's funny and then there's funny, and "A Good Old-Fashioned Orgy" is neither. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: Funny if less outrageous than expected given the boundary-pushing comedies that have found acceptance in recent years, A Good Old Fashioned Orgy earns its R but may leave audiences wanting more. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: More amusing than you might expect, but probably not by much. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Feels as if it had been conceived and written on the back of a cocktail napkin, then handed over to the actors in hope they could come up with some funny business. No such luck. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Jason Sudeikis, mildly annoying in small doses, turns out to be greatly annoying in large ones, as our hero. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: The movie keeps its balance better than its leering title might suggest. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Gregory and Huyck keep their frat boy (and girl) lark grounded while making sure no bit is left untouched. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Chlamydia, gonorrhea and Jason Sudeikis are three reasons to stay well clear of "A Good Old Fashioned Orgy," but they're not the only ones. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: I scrawled the words completely unappealing people in my trusty notebook, sitting there in the dark in the early going of A Good Old Fashioned Orgy. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: It hedges its bets in the big climax--so to speak. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: This is a comedy without wit and soul. It strands fairly likable actors in a morass of the kind of dialogue only stupid characters ever say - and then only when reading stupid screenplays. Read more

Marc Mohan, Salon.com: These immature, fairly pitiable protagonists go about their absurd project in all the wrong ways. But you just keep rooting for them. Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: Movies about raising children or reconnecting with lost loves can be subtle and slow paced. But orgy movies need to go all out. There doesn't appear to be any other way. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: You don't review a movie like "A Good Old-Fashioned Orgy." You autopsy it. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Sitting through "A Good Old Fashioned Orgy" is like being monopolized by the most irritating person at a really boring party. Read more

John Anderson, Variety: A very likable cast and some terrific sketch-style comedy should please (if not deeply satisfy the lustful yearnings of) auds lured by the film's title. Read more

Michelle Orange, Village Voice: Is the world of the film ruled by its high concept, its low comedy, its demographic credibility, or its romantic screwball realism? Ultimately, Orgy's refusal to be any one thing-including good or bad-forms a kind of epochal statement. Read more