Straight man pretends to be gay and stealthily woos the female of his dreams! Three years before “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry” sent that premise through a profitable wringer, a low-budget indie called “Home of Phobia,” working a related idea, was shot by writer-director Ryan Shiraki.
The film has since been retitled “Freshman Orientation” and has finally made it into general release. Like “Chuck & Larry” it isn’t very funny, which proves funny isn’t a budgetary matter.
“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. When the hero’s suspiciously low-key roommate (Mike Erwin) is trapped in a room by a voracious alcoholic (Rachel Dratch, in a role listed as “Very Drunk Chick”) you cannot believe the two performers are on the same planet, let alone in the same film.
Sam Huntington (Jimmy Olsen in last summer’s “Superman Returns”) stars as Clay, a self-described “B student from Wisconsin” tackling his first year of college at an unspecified campus out of state. An embarrassing fraternity initiation rite leads everyone at the school to believe Clay is gay. Across the lawn, meanwhile, at the snee-ottiest sorority clique ever, our hero’s crush (Kaitlin Doubleday) is required by her sisters to date a gay guy and then dump him.
The script is loaded with closet cases and queer, breast-baring poetry slams and “Queer as Folk” jokes — this was filmed a while ago, remember — and an odd lack of wit. John Goodman swans around and has some fun as Clay’s bartender and mentor in homosexual attitude. Shiraki has some talent. But it’ll take another film to fully prove as much.
‘Freshman Orientation’
* 1/2
Written and directed by Ryan Shiraki; photographed by Amelia Vincent; edited by David Codron; music by tom- andandy; production design by Frank J. Zito III; produced by Dan Halsted, Stavros Merjos, Judd Payne, Malcolm Petal, Matthew Rhodes and Adam Rosenfelt. A Regent Entertainment release; opens Friday. Running time: 1:31.
Clay … Sam Huntington
Amanda … Kaitlin Doubleday
Rodney … John Goodman
MPAA rating: R (for strong sexual content, language and some drug use).
**** EXCELLENT
*** GOOD
** FAIR
* POOR
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mjphillips@tribune.com
