How do you cast Catherine Keener, Allison Janney, Hugh Laurie and Oliver Platt in one film and still have it turn out to be unwatchable? I don’t know, but “The Oranges” does. This witless New Jersey-set farce about warring families took over a year to reach theatres after tanking at Toronto in 2011, and it’s not hard to see why: there’s dark promise in the story of a middle-aged dad (Laurie) taking up with the college-age daughter (Leighton Meester) of his neighbours and best friends, but the facile, asexual treatment here resembles a particularly awkward episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond” more than the “American Beauty” clone it aspires to be.

 - Guy Lodge