Can a young man win the hand of the girl of his dreams by convincing her that he prefers the company of men? That's the dilemma facing the protagonist of this independent comedy. Clay (Sam Huntington) was a big man on his high-school campus, but he discovers he's just another nobody when he starts his first year of college, and while he expected to be making time with lots of pretty coeds, most of the girls on campus could care less about him. As Clay hopes to improve his social status by
rushing a fraternity after his dorm roommate unexpectedly dies, Amanda (Kaitlin Doubleday), another incoming freshman, is similarly hoping to join a sorority, and as part of her initiation she and the other pledges are each instructed to pick up a certain type of "loser" guy for a party where the boys will be humiliated as part of the evening's entertainment. Amanda is supposed to find a guy who is obviously gay, and her friend Jessica (Heather Matarazzo) mistakenly thinks Clay fits the bill. It doesn't take long for Clay to realize what's going on, but he decides to play along if it means going out with a pretty girl, and he gives himself a crash course in gay behavior in hopes of winning Amanda's heart with some help from amiable queer bartender Rodney (John Goodman). Produced under the title Home of Phobia, Freshman Orientation was the first feature film from writer and director Ryan Shiraki. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
No quotes approved yet for Freshman Orientation. Logged in users can submit quotes.
Submit a Quote from 'Freshman Orientation'
A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.
Example:
Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
Top Critic
