Sooner or later, one would hope that a particularly awful teen comedy would drive a stake through the heart of awful teen comedies, thus killing off the genre. Maybe, if we're lucky, "Orange County" will provide the fatal blow. It certainly succeeds in getting the year off to a weak start.

The fact that "Orange County" is such a bad film is marginally disappointing, despite the low expectations that come with teen comedies, considering the quality of the cast and the promising young director, Jake Kasdan. This is uninspired, lethargic filmmaking at its worst.

Working from a script by Mike White, whose long list of recent writing credits includes "Dawson's Creek," "Dead Man on Campus" and the critically acclaimed TV series "Freaks and Geeks," "Orange County" revolves around the life of Shaun Brumder (Colin Hanks, son of some actor named Tom).

Shaun has always been just another surfing slacker in Orange County. But after the tragic surfing death of his close friend Lonny (this is played for laughs), Shaun gets serious about his life. He gives up surfing, studies hard, gets good grades and realizes that he wants to be a writer.

"Straightjacket," a novel by Stanford professor Marcus Skinner (Kevin Kline), has a profound effect on Shaun, and he decides that he desperately wants to get into Stanford, which will allow him to study with Skinner and get away from Orange County.

His family is dysfunctional, which is why he wants to fly the coop. His mother Cindy, (Catherine O'Hara) is an alcoholic and his father, Bud (John Lithgow) is a selfish jerk. They are divorced, and Cindy married an elderly man for his money and Bud married a 20 year-old he met at the gym. His older brother Lance (Jack Black) is on parole and has a pharmacy in his room.

Since he has excellent grades and is class president, it appears that Shaun will get into Stanford. Unfortunately for him, his school's inept guidance counselor (Lily Tomlin) mailed in someone else's transcript, and Stanford sends Shaun a letter of rejection.

After all other measures fail, Shaun decides to visit Stanford's Dean of Admissions (Harold Ramis), show him his transcript and beg. He hitches a ride with Lance, and his girlfriend Ashley (Schuyler Fisk) joins them. A series of madcap comic misadventures ensues.

The movie's biggest problem is that it isn't funny. The numerous gross-out jokes are straight out of the Farrelly Brother's school of filmmaking. They involve masturbation and bodily fluids and are tired and boring.

It's also hard to sympathize with Shaun. He's a spoiled rich kid driving a brand new SUV to school, yet the movie constantly asks us to feel sorry for him. He's a nice enough guy, and Hanks is mildly appealing, but there's no reason to feel bad for this guy.

Kasdan's first film, the little seen masterpiece "Zero Effect," starring Bill Pullman and Ben Stiller, is a smartly written and witty film with a Wes Anderson feel to it. "Orange County" is a hack job that could have been directed by anyone. Gone is all of the imagination and flair that Kasdan displayed in his debut.

"Orange County" isn't completely without merit. The cast is stellar, and there are amusing cameos. There are also a few chuckles scattered throughout, including an English teacher who thinks Shakespeare wrote "Gladiator" and "Chocolat."

But the laughs are mostly nonexistent, the cliches are working overtime and the end result is a mess. This is yet another tiresome teen comedy with stale jokes, selfish and unlikable characters and a wasted cast. With all this talent, at best "Orange County" is a major letdown.

"Orange County" opened at theaters everywhere on Fri., Jan. 11. Click here for showtimes.