3/5 uneven comedy with moments of genuine charm
  by Roland E. Zwick (Valencia, Ca USA)
A fair-to-middling low-budget comedy, "Freshman Orientation" has some good-natured fun lampooning the stereotypes and cliches of college life. Kewpie-faced Clay Adams is an undergrad frat pledge who pretends to be gay in order to snag the girl of his dreams. Just how this paradoxical turn-of-events comes about need not be reiterated here. Suffice it to say that it involves fraternity and sorority initiation pranks that wind up at cross purposes with one another.

Suffering from its own case of identity confusion, director Ryan Shiraki's screenplay reinforces stereotypes even as it's working hard to beat those stereotypes down. Gays, in particular, may find themselves evenly divided between encouragement and dismay over how they are portrayed in this film.

Still, there are enough moments of loopy charm to make the film worth seeing on a slow, rainy afternoon, and Sam Huntington and Kaitlin Doubleday have appeal and charisma to spare as Clay and his girl. And, as an added bonus, they are joined by John Goodman and Rachel Dratch in minor supporting roles.

4/5 Laughing through Hell Week
  by Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas)
"FRESHMAN ORIENTATION--Home of Phobia"
Laughing through Hell Week

Amos Lassen

Those ideas about college being a hotbed of sex and parties just did not hold true for 18 year old college freshman, Clay (Sam Huntington). He had imagined that college was going to be one big orgy with plenty of "hot chicks", endless orgies and beer kegs that were always full and there for the emptying. Clay thought that when he finally got away from home and on his own, the girls would just fall into his open arms. Never did he imagine that he would have to play gay to get a girl just to notice him. This is the premise of "Freshman Orientation" released by Regent Films and soon to be seen on Here! TV and then followed by DVD release. Plating gay can also lead to many strange happenings as it does so well in this fun film. Clay becomes involved in everything from gender warfare to campus activism. Breaking all the rules of political correctness, we get to see a freshman orientation as we have never seen before.
As Clay plays gay, he bumbles and fumbles his way through his first year of college. When Amanda (Kaitlin Doubleday) receives a note during sorority rush that she must bring a "fag" to a dance in order to gain acceptance, the beauty comes upon Clay, whom she assumes to be gay (because of a fraternity prank he had been involved in). She has the assignment to make him fall in love with her (as other sorority pledges have similar assignments--one of the funniest is the Jewish girl who must do the same with a Muslim). Clay of course has no idea that Amanda is using him but is determined to get the girl and while trying to appear gay, he finds a tutor in Rodney (John Goodman---who steals the movie as the stereotypical flamboyant gay bartender).
Of course the whole plan goes wrong and causes the campus to become chaotic as the issue of sexual identity becomes embroiled in campus life. The twists and turns are hilarious and I found myself laughing aloud while watching the film. The young cast is amazing, especially when dealing with sexual politics. This a perky bright comedy which will lift the spirits and make you remember what college is all about. For those if us that experienced freshman orientation and all that goes along with it, this is a movie and will cause you to fondly muse about the good old days. For those who had no such experience, you may consider going back in time and enrolling. I had one good time watching this zany flick.

3/5 "Animal House" meets "The Birdcage" ...
  by Bob Lind (Phoenix, AZ United States)
During "Freshman Orientation" (2004), incoming freshman Clay Adams (Sam Huntington) spots freshman co-ed Amanda (Kaitlin Doubleday), a perky blonde former prom queen, who is clearly out of his league. Amanda later notices Clay, but - due to a fraternity pledge prank - assumes that he is gay, and Clay plays along, thinking it is his only chance to date let Amanda get to know him. He is unaware that Amanda isn't really interested in him, but is playing along with a sorority dare to string along a gay boy as a boyfriend, until breaking up with him at the first sorority party of the season. Of course, Amanda falls in love with Clay almost as much as he is with her, resulting in a rather predictable comedy of errors.

In essence, this is a typical college student sex comedy, with a definite gay bent (hence the subtle play on words in the title "Orientation". Hey, it beats the heck out of its original title, which was "Home of Phobia"!). Besides "fake gay" Clay, there are several other gay characters, including a flamboyant bar owner, played by John Goodman ("Roseanne") who offers the non-stylish Clay a "makeover." There are scemes at the college GLBT student group meetings, a night out for Clay and Amanda at a gay dance club, a roving campus slut (played by SNL's Rachel Dratch), a queer "poetry slam" night with a surprise star, a campus protest to the supposed gay-bashing of Clay, and the "coming out" of someone close to Clay.

Some reviews have compared it to "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry", and it would be a masterpiece based on that criteria. But the truth is that this film also relies a bit too much (although not as much as C&L) on tired old stereotypes about gays and lesbians. More than that, it suffers from the typical college sex comedy malady of lacking any real focus or direction, for the most part, and seems longer than it really is. Rated R for sexual content, female frontal nudity, and some drug use. On DVD, and occasionally on rotation on Here!TV On-Demand. DVD has no real extras. I'll give it three stars out of five.