Steve Coogan. Laura Linney. Richard Gere. Rebecca Hall. What a fantastic cast, and each one is great in their roles. Out of the four primary actors of this film however, it's Steve Coogan's performance as Paul Lohman, that will really stand out the most. Paul is the curmudgeon, tactless, very opinionated, and highly insufferable man, who would rather not have attended this dinner. He's a very negative and cynical person with issues, and it seems like this movie is also very negative and cynical with a lot of issues as well.
You would think that for a movie that's simply titled "The Dinner," there will be a display of extravagant cuisine, plus a straightforward dramatic conversation during the meal. There definitely is a display of delicious food; but it doesn't focus too much on that, and there is a dramatic conversation to get involved in; but it's hardly straightforward. The narration of this movie is simply not conventional at all, constantly switching between the present time, to flashbacks, as well as sudden sections of voice over monologuing by Coogan's character. While I understand why this story is told in this manner, it still doesn't stop me from getting frustrated by the direction anyway. It honestly feels a bit indulgently stylish, or just pretentious. Did we really need a huge chunk of the movie dedicated to American History?
There's a lot of big ideas and commentary that's found here, on social issues, family, parenthood, responsibility, racism, politics, class system, education, abuse, and yes history, plus many more, all crammed into this two hours production. It can be a bit overwhelming digesting every bit of information and opinions tossed at your direction, but that's also arguably the strength of this movie. No matter what you may think about the various different subjects this movie is talking about, or of the movie itself, you will at least find yourself having opinions about the topics. That is after all the most interesting aspect about this frustrating movie.
A toast is made during the movie "to the children," "to health," and "to getting through this dinner in one piece." Apparently that toast is pretty much describing the movie. As an adaptation of the novel by Herman Koch, I'm tempted to just say that it's probably better to just read the book than watch the movie. However, the film does add a nice "American take" to the Dutch novel that might be worth checking out anyway.
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