Linney and Gere, with this being their 3rd collaboration on film, don't interact that much, but they both have solid grasps on their prickly characters. In trying to translate his mental state to the screen, the film ends up being more frustrating than mysterious.ĭespite this, our five leads do well, with the great Hall beautifully building steam until her character snaps. It's all told from the point of view of the slowly unraveling Coogan, who in the book by Herman Koch, served as an unreliable narrator. Without spoiling the topic, it amounts to one of those moral quandaries where there's no good answer. When it's finally introduced, our main characters have a heated conversation about it in attempt to come to an agreement. Did I say endless? It literally takes almost an entire hour and a half for us to learn about the main issue because the above-mentioned interruptions just keep coming. Trouble is, they're constantly interrupted by either Gere's chief of staff (a strong Adepero Oduye, PARIAH, 12 YEARS A SLAVE), who provides a ridiculous mcguffin regarding an impending vote on a bill, or by the wait staff who incessantly chime in about each dish, or by Coogan's endless mental health issues. Structured inexplicably around the multiple courses of a dinner at a fancy restaurant, the film gathers 2 brothers (Richard Gere, a gubernatorial candidate, and Steve Coogan, a high school history teacher) and their respective wives (Rebecca Hall and Laura Linney) as they hope to discuss a personal family matter. I can honestly say that despite some very good performances, THE DINNER is easily the most excruciating moviegoing experience I've had in years. Of course, the big dumb studio comedies would normally fill that bill, but when you assemble so much talent, it's that much more disappointing when it fails this miserably.
Writer/director Oren Moverman knows better, right? I mean, I enjoyed THE MESSENGER and RAMPART, both providing Woody Harrelson with two of his best performances, but his latest, THE DINNER is, to put it mildly, a steaming stinker. SPIT IT OUT - My Review of THE DINNER (1/2 Star)
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