Dinner at Fred's (1999)

Richard leaves his corporate office for a weekend at the country house of his fiancee, who is a daughter of his boss. On the way there he is forced to accept offer of lodging from local ... See full summary »

Director:

Shawn Thompson

Writer:

Shawn Thompson

Stars:

Gil Bellows, Parker Posey, Kevin McDonald

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gil Bellows	...	Richard
Parker Posey	...	Celia
Kevin McDonald	...	Fred
John Neville	...	Uncle Henrick
Valerie Mahaffey	...	Susan
Trevor Blumas	...	Young Richard
Joseph Kell	...	Dennis
Patricia Gage	...	Aunt Bonnie
Aidan Devine	...	Officer Mike
Leon Pownall	...	George Billings
Don Francks	...	Gus
Kristin Lehman	...	Sarah Billings
Deborah Lobban	...	Mom
Christopher Lloyd	...	Dad
Anthony Antonacci	...	Young Billy

Storyline

Richard leaves his corporate office for a weekend at the country house of his fiancee, who is a daughter of his boss. On the way there he is forced to accept offer of lodging from local Fred and when he enters the house, the wacky family of Celia, her brother Dennis and their parents won't let him move on away from it. Family believes they are under the curse of the wild turkey, by which anyone who stays past midnight in the rural house is doomed to never leave.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | independent film | character name in title

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexuality, language and brief drug content

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Also Known As:

Eine grauenvolle Familie

Company Credits

Production Co:

HandMade Films, Paragon Entertainment Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Richard: You sure do ask a lot of questions.
Celia: It's the only way to get a lot of answers.

User Reviews

Slightly charming but forgettable

"Dinner at Fred's" is not necessarily a bad film. Someone must have been nervous about it in some respect, though, because the first time I saw it was at a film festival in September 1997. I heard more of it in the spring of 1999, when plans to release it were falling into place. Strange. Anyways, it was made before Gil Bellows of apparent "Ally McBeal" fame was famous, and it includes a charming performance from former indie-queen Parker Posey and flat-out weirdness from most of the rest of the cast. The thing is, it comes across as if this film is almost trying to be too oddball, and it seriously chokes the "unlikely" romantic sub-plot developing between the characters of Bellows and Posey. Most of the plot reminded me of similarly themed fish-out-of-water romances including snow, such as "Trapped in Paradise" and the like. The writing is not incredibly inspired either, but the actors do well with what they have in this predictable but mildly cute romantic comedy. See it if you're bored, and don't expect to remember much of it a day later.