DVD Review: The Oranges (+trailer)

Trouble seems to follow Hugh Laurie across the screen.

For the past eight years he has graced our television sets as Dr Gregory House, the brilliant diagnostician with all the people skills of a creature from outer space.

In The Oranges, he puts his prodigious acting talent into an equally challenging role - that of a 50-something man who has an affair with his best friend's 24-year-old daughter.

David Walling (Laurie) is a good man, a good father and successful in his advertising job.

His one failing is his relationship with his wife, Paige (Catherine Keener).

After 28 years, the magic and communication has gone.

Across the road from the Wallings are their best mates: Carol (Allison Janney) and Terry Ostroff (Oliver Platt).

The Ostroffs only have the one child - a daughter, Nina (Leighton Meester).

After five years away from home living the life of a wild child, Nina returns home to rebuild her life after a break-up.

When Nina and David share a kiss, they both know their lives will never be the same again.

Both families get caught up in a tsunami of emotions when news of the affair becomes public.

They know it is wrong but they don't want to give it up.

We watch on as family members deal with the fallout in their own ways.

It is a fascinating exercise looking in on two families' angst in a well-constructed story.

The Oranges

(M) Roadshow Entertainment

Rating: 3.5 / 5