The Dinner: Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
Two estranged brothers and their wives meet at a restaurant to discuss a dark crime committed by their sons. With their involvement still a secret, they must decide how far they’ll go to protect the ones they love.
This is one of those movies that comes along and disgusts but also opens your eyes to situations that really do happen at times. In this case certain parties know all the details but not everyone. As the film goes on the entire truth begins to unfold and it becomes a crazy scenario where people try to cover up dirty laundry. As a parent you can’t help but put yourself in that situation and yes, I would love to protect my child if he or she did something horrible but morally I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. This is the predicament that these characters face and throughout the film and it builds and builds until it’s bursting at the seams. Peoples’ true colors begin to shine and choices are made that will impact not only the children but the family as a whole. It really was a great “slow burn” kind of thriller but my only gripe with it was that it was a bit too long. Coming in at a little over 2 hours, I felt like certain scenes could’ve been trimmed down or taken out all together to tighten up the tension of the narrative. The cast was fantastic but the MVP of this film has to go to Steve Coogan. Normally he’s known for his comedic roles but his performance showed a totally different side to him as an actor which definitely kept my attention. The third act of the film was a nice culmination of the everything that happened but it ended in a way that left me wanting to know more. Yes, sometimes less is more but in this case giving the complete story would’ve made everything a lot more satisfying. It’s a great thriller with an intriguing plot but lacks just a little “something” to push it over that edge. 7/10
Special Features:
Audio Commentary with Director Oren Moverman and Actress Laura Linney
