Jack Black: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked

4. Lance Bumder - Orange County (2002)

Not long after he'd started scoring more film work off the back of his show-stealing performance in High Fidelity, Black turned up mostly in his underpants and with a comical amount of drugs in his system to play Colin Hanks' big dopey brother in this very likeable but lightweight comedy. It's a far from flawless film - with a distinctly silly pay-off message that you don't need to leave stifling small-town living to get a good education - and not enough investment in the right elements, but Black is hilarious. In a film that has scarce real laughs, the sight of him cleaning his room post-drugs binge, or attempting to understand simple instructions over the phone are perhaps puerile, but they're very effective. This feels like a version of Black who could have existed - just as with School Of Rock - and seeing him accidentally burn down an admissions building while romancing its secretary as a distraction is the film's delightfully lasting after-taste.