Dinner with Friends (2001 TV Movie) User Reviews

married life

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 21 December 2020]

Gabe (Dennis Quaid) and Karen (Andie MacDowell) are a married couple with kids. They are regaling their friend Beth (Toni Collette) with food stories from their trip to Italy. Beth shocks them by revealing that Tom (Greg Kinnear) had cheated on her and wants a divorce. It forces Gabe and Karen to reconsider their longtime friends.

Norman Jewison has adapted a play. This starts great with interesting actors. I hope for better but that's not in the cards. It's a relationship movie where I'm not sure that I care about the relationships. It is still fascinating at first but over time, I lost interest. It feels too much like a play.

Great movie to explore about marriage and friendship.

[dy158 · 7/10 · 16 June 2006]

I happen to be someone who does like to watch the credits roll in when a movie ends. I know it's one of those silliest things a person can do after watching a movie but then when I saw the final credit, it's a made-for-TV movie from HBO. I was pretty impressed.

Gabe and Karen (Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell respectively) are food critics. They had been happily married for 12 years and have two sons as well. When one day their friend Beth (Toni Collette) was being invited over for dinner with her two sons in tow, Beth broke the news that she and her husband Tom are being separated because he was having an affair outside of the family. Given Tom is Gabe's friend and Beth is Karen's friend, married couple Gabe and Karen started to defend over what each of their best friend had did.

The way Tom questioned his wife over whatever happened at Gabe and Karen's house when she was there with the kids was a little, kind of scary. But maybe given he is a lawyer, it's just like that.

The movie even had scenes of flashback, showing the happier times between the four friends themselves. It was definitely really sweet to see those scenes.

Sometimes, the lines are not always being drawn clearly when it come to the marriage of someone you know or maybe your own's when something starts to happen. The grey area is there. Now maybe I am not of marriageable age yet, but then standing up to whatever your friend had did is one thing I am clearly aware about.

My final say? Like what I had mentioned on the title for this review.

One annoying movie

[Superunknovvn · 5/10 · 29 September 2005]

No character makes sense, everybody is wrong. Gabe and especially the ultra conservative Karen constantly temper in their friend's decisions, which are really none of their business (as if my best friend had a right to tell me who I should be with or what my goals and principles in life should be). Tom on the other hand is a self-righteous bastard who always thinks of himself as the victim. He loves talking about himself and doesn't accept anyone else's opinion. And Beth, well, she's just an unbelievably annoying person. I could see how anyone would want to leave her.

A movie about failed marriages and love should show how nobody is wrong and everybody is right. The thing is, none of the four characters here is believable and the dialog is painful at times. From the first time Tom and Beth meet it's hard to believe that the two of them are even attracted to each other. It's also hard to believe that somebody as far removed from reality as Karen is living on this planet and happily married.

Nope, the writers got it all wrong and not even the cast can save this movie. Sorry.

Clearly a stage play, but not bad

[Ace_of_Sevens · 29 July 2004]

Dinner with Friends is somewhat unusual. Perhaps I''m just not as well-versed as I thought, but I haven't seen other movies about two couples that are friends, one splits up and its effect on the other couple.

This movie obviously originates as a stage play as it consists of four people sitting around and talking. As such, you can only make it so interesting, visually.

Because of this, the movie relies pretty much exclusively on the dialog and actors to make things interesting, and they mostly deliver. There were a few moments where the acting seemed very stage-style, for lack of a better term, but still decent overall.

I would caution you that you won't like this movie if you can't connect with the source material. It's a study of marriages and why some work and others don't as well as the effects of a divorce on friends. I would recommend it mostly to people who have had long- term relationships and/or are interested in them.

Starts well, then fizzles...

[edwood1954 · 6/10 · 5 April 2002]

The opening scene of this film is very good, with equal parts humor, pathos, agony and sympathy. Problem is, it gets progressively worse as it goes along, and in the end, it just ... ends. It's as if the script writer(s) indiscriminately decided that it was a good place to write "The End" and say the hell with it.

What's that blue stuff in Kinnear's hair?

[=G= · 6/10 · 12 August 2001]

Two couples, best friends, married and middle aged with kids, one living the American dream while the other is breaking up and changing partners. Quaid & MacDowell play straight-men to Kinnear and Collette through nonstop dialogue which explores relationship issues, examines marriage, friendship, etc. in this obvious yin-yang of marriage lite drama. Scripted, staged, and sanitized, with everyone a little too glib, "Dinner..." is typical Jewison - well crafted, smooth, and ultimately sentimental and mainstream. An enjoyable watch for middle aged romantics.

More than just a accompaniment for popcorn

[Yug-3 · 7/10 · 7 July 2002]

I have heard so many people complain about the ending of this film. Now that I have seen it I am dismayed by what their comments reveal about the general lack of depth in society. Anyone who doesn't get it has either never been in a loving long term relationship or is just another person waiting for something on-screen to explode. Obviously, it is meant for a viewing audience over the age of consent. Definitely thought provoking and defintely worth watching.

If you liked Notting Hill, you'll be spilling your wine glasses to this...

[avesummathat · 1/10 · 2 July 2006]

Dinner With Friends is the perfect movie for those who felt that Notting Hill was a little too action-packed. The story involves two post-yuppie couples, one of whom split up, and how it affects all of their lives. The film mainly consists of the four of them discussing relationships with each other - and I'm talking about ninety percent conversation here, so be warned - while occasionally interrupted with people looking emotional.

This would be a great film for those interested in the psychology behind modern relationships. For the rest of us, it's a potential cure for insomnia.

In life, you have to make choices. Your own.

[WolfHai · 9/10 · 29 June 2005]

Two couples, upper middle class and no financial problems: four friends. They marry at about the same time, each have two kids, they spend a lot of time together, *best* friends... And then, one of them split up.

The movie, by the way of dialogs, shows how each of the four's world is shaken up, as their unspoken contract, namely, to raise their kids together, to grow old together, is broken. Questions: Whose fault is the breakup, husband's or wife's? Which couple has it right: those, who stick to marriage or those who break out of the rut? Who has the right to judge: those who keep to their marriage vows, or those who acknowledge that their relationship has been a lie? Can we demand that our friends always tell us the truth? How do we react when our closest friends question the unspoken foundations of our lives? The movie follows the actions and reactions of our characters in this situation. Nobody is right, nobody is wrong. In a way, everybody is right. That is what makes the movie interesting. The men act the way men act, and the women act the way women act. The questions are not really answered, they are debated, and the movie shows that completely grown-up people are really unable to answer them.

I liked the performances of the actors. Andie McDowell was as beautiful as she always is. I also liked the two guys. The environment, the camera, etc. seemed just right. But the most interesting were the dialogs. So, if you like movies in which people investigate themselves, their lives, and their relationships, without giving you a definite answer what to do, you may enjoy this movie.

Absorbing Talkfest About Marriages in Disrepair Yields Surprisingly Strong Performances

[EUyeshima · 7/10 · 1 August 2006]

This is the type of four-person drama that hardly makes it to the big screen anymore, and indeed this 2001 movie originally aired as an HBO film. Adapted by Donald Margulies from his own Pulitzer Prize-winning play, the film documents the unraveling relationships among two married couples who have been best friends for twelve years - Gabe and Karen, a perceived model of professional success (as renowned food writers) and domestic stability; and the other, Tom and Beth, in a state of irreparable collapse. Veteran filmmaker Norman Jewison (whose last successful film was probably 1987's "Moonstruck", his Italian-American valentine to improbable romance) has a proved track record for allowing actors to inhabit characters realistically in difficult situations. This movie proves he is still in peak form in this regard.

The story begins with Beth breaking the news to Gabe and Karen that Tom has left her. Gabe and Karen immediately take sides and start to question the stability of their own relationship. In the meantime, Tom is basking in the happiness of his new relationship with a younger woman, even as his best friends have become judgmental about what they see as a vainglorious, selfish act from a husband and father of two. Beth also goes on to find a new lover but also faces similar disapproval for moving on too fast. Although the film goes into an extended flashback sequence to have us understand the genesis of their long-standing friendship, the movie pushes forward the individual revelations of each principal in superbly executed scenes driven by Marguiles' perceptive, sometimes clever dialogue. There are unexpected comedy elements as well, for example, when a post-meltdown Beth blows her nose in the expensive placemat Karen bought for her in Italy.

The actors shine most unexpectedly. I always thought of Andie MacDowell as a rather flat but obviously lucky presence on the screen. Here she finally seems closer in proximity to a real, flawed human being as Karen. Her character is the picture of image-conscious perfection unable to tolerate, much less accept, disruptions to her controlling existence. MacDowell is still not a great actress, but at least she bravely reveals the unattractive underside of a character genuinely at a loss to deal with her best friends' break-up. As usual, Toni Collette nails her part perfectly as Beth, showing dimensions of the wronged wife that are both surprising and viscerally honest. The real surprises in the cast, however, are the men. As Tom, Greg Kinnear adds substantive depth to his standard happy-go-lucky guy and does not come across as his usual likable scamp at the least. The standout may be Dennis Quaid as Gabe, an assured performance from an actor who has not shown this much introspection on screen before. In fact, he brings an almost fey quality to the early scenes and then gains more heft as the uncomfortable situation comes closer to home.

The most affecting scenes are the ones involving two of the characters at a time in revealing exchanges - Karen and Beth discussing Beth's new lover over lunch, Tom facing Gabe's resentment and jealousy at the bar, Gabe and Karen revealing their tactics to avoid intimacy as they prepare for bed. Given that Quaid and MacDowell play die-hard foodies, there are plenty of shots of luxuriant food that any lover of the Food Network will savor. The film is beautifully shot by cinematographer Roger Deakins, who uses effective burnished amber tones for the flashback sequence. This is not for everyone, but the maturity of the drama and the top-notch performances make this one most worthwhile.

Wimpy men, cold women, lots of talking

[GoodMonkey · 3/10 · 29 May 2005]

Some movies can be adapted from stage-plays successfully, but this one is a good example that even if a play wins a Pulitzer, some stories need a stage.

I was pleased when I found this Kinnear/Quaid movie on the Sundance channel, but that didn't last long. Their acting is solid, but their characters are far too effeminate and unbelievable. This must have worked better on a stage, but it doesn't work in this movie. I don't need them to be tough macho guys, but during key conversations, these two straight men discuss life, marriage, and cheating in a manner that is wimpy and boring. The dialog, gestures, and comments like "If you were really my friend you would just listen", could all have been performed more believably by two women, two gay men, or one of each. When they discuss sex & needing even simple physical affection, Quaid pulls a pillow to his lap. Later, when Kinnear tells Quaid about great sex, Quaid's character asks whether they ever talk. These aren't believable men with wives and established families.

The sloppy production quality was distracting too: non-wet coat after coming in from a downpour, children who sleep through screaming arguments, bad hair-aging on Kinnear, and ... was that water in the beer bottles? Halfway through, the turmoil is side-tracked by a long 15-minute flashback which includes a bandaging device as a flimsy transition for two incompatible people to warm to each other.

Due to the weak men, two women who are often cold, snotty, and unlikeable, and several talking scenes that merely provide information without advancing the character arcs or plot ... I doubt that many people agree with the high rating it receives on IMDb.

Within the wasteland, here is a fine original film.

[fkerr · 9/10 · 13 August 2001]

TV may be mostly a wasteland these days, but every once in a while, a fine original film shows up on the tube. `Dinner With Friends' is certainly in that category. It takes the viewer deeply into the relationship between two couples and within each. They were best friends until one of the marriages hits the rocks. We see each side of that split and how it affects the other couple. Initially, sides seem to be taken along gender lines, but that reverses as each member of the separating couple finds new relationships. Is it fatal to the other marriage? Watch and see.

Forces of nature 2: Ten years later (DVD)

[leplatypus · 7/10 · 18 July 2009]

For those who have seen the above mentioned movie, it was about the wedding: how can you be sure that the promised one is the perfect one?

With "Dinner with friends", the married life analysis goes on and this time, it's about the time effect: after years, children, does love is still there or is-it extinguished and we must start it all over again?

On the contrary of "Sex, lies …", Andie is now surrounded by a terrific cast. I am really surprised by the performance of Dennis Quaid, because he was more in action movie for me but he shows there a lot of deepness.

The couples are really opposite to each other: the one that dissolves becomes happy while the one that rejoices becomes sad. It's like the split of their friends gave proof to their inner fear and they start to break up even thought they have all the reason to be happy!

A good movie! I got only one deception: as it is a indoor drama, I am still wondering if there is poor people or working class in America, because the houses or the families are always top! No way for a cheap accommodation in those movies! I would take this as a contempt for common people!

Maybe I'm overcritical but...

[Marie-62 · 4/10 · 10 June 2003]

These four actors have brilliant talent, so I asked myself, what are they doing in a movie like this? I mainly saw this to watch Toni Collette and I can honestly say I was rather dissappointed with this movie as a whole. I didn't get enough background on this relationship between the couples, and although they talk quite a bit about all their "vacations and years together" we only witness one occasion in a 1988 flashback. One minute I was sympathizing with one character, the next minute disliking them. I hate that type of back-and-forth thing because it's tiring to keep up with who you're supposed to like and hate. The ending is kind of...this is the end. Finis. So what is that? Did the writers just forget to finish the script? If more effort had been put in this movie (not by the actors, they were finaminal in their roles) then perhaps this movie would've been more than just an HBO run-by. Not even a huge fan of any of these four can honestly love it...Sorry Toni.

HBO Scores Big!!!

[RitchCS · 11 August 2001]

In a long series of original HBO movies, the predecessor being "WIT". "Dinner With Friends" turned out to be one of the best dramatic shows HBO has produced. First of all to get a top-notch director such as Norman Jewison and Pulitzer Prize winning play to work with, they were ahead before they began. All four major stars, Quaid, Kinnear, MacDowell, and Collette more than succeeded with their tasks, but it was the two long scenes between Greg and Dennis that raised this show to greater heights. Greg Kinnear has come so far in such a short time as an actor and he can hold his own with anybody now. I think I've seen every film Dennis Quaid has made and "DWF" is his finest work to date. If you've ever worked as a professional actor or director, you know that the easiest scene to play is "anger" and the most difficult is maintaining an audience's interest while you're playing low-key drama. The low-key counterplay and interaction between these two men was superb! It was often said of the late Geraldine Page that she could act in a whole movie or a three act play and know everything she was thinking if she had NO dialogue. Quaid and Kinnear were excellent listeners and responded to each other in the same way as Page. Besides the rich and powerful screenplay, the icing on the piece was placed with Dave Grusin's melodic score, a-la "The Fabulous Baker Boys". The 90+ minute movie ran the gamut of emotion for its audience. I was moved from tears to laughing out loud and anger to surprise. I only hope when next years Emmy nominations are announced, people will still remember this film in August 2001. Dennis Quaid and Greg Kinnear should be at the top of the list. Thumbs UP and four solid stars!

Four great performances

[HotToastyRag · 7/10 · 23 July 2019]

Isn't it fun when you watch a tv-movie that doesn't feel like a tv-movie? Norman Jewison's Dinner with Friends, from David Margulies's play, is a sensitive reflection on the consequential ripples of infidelity. Two married couples, Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell, and Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette, have a regular dinner routine that adds to the comfortable pattern of their lives. When Greg strays from his marriage, it topples everything.

Usually, movies about infidelity only cover the wife and kids' reactions, but this movie deals with the friends' as well. When you think about it, what happens to friendships after one couple divorces is interesting and shockingly ignored in the movies. Who gets custody of the friends?

If you're a fan of any of the four in the main cast, you'll really like this movie. It's a very thoughtful movie with nuances and scenes that inspire internal reflection. Be careful who you invite to your movie night, though, since it might make for an uncomfortable evening.

Breaking Up and Picking Up the Pieces!

[Sylviastel · 7/10 · 2 January 2015]

Donald Margulies' play, "Dinner with Friends," was adapted and filmed for HBO in 2001. The story of two middle aged couples played by well-known actors (Dennis Quaid and Greg Kinnear) and actresses (Andie MacDowell and Toni Collette). I didn't see the stage play before. The film doesn't make me want to see it much more. The two couples experience a change when one couple splits up after twelve years of marriage and two kids later. The actors and actresses do a fine job and even the scenes in Martha's Vineyard helped enhance the romance. The subject of marriage and divorce is the main subject of the film and relationships with others. Donald Margulies does a fine job in actual writing as being realistic and believable The film is an overall satisfactory drama where couples and friends bicker. One couple (Quaid/MacDowell) appear all but perfect while (Kinnear/Collette) are falling apart. How do you pick up the pieces in the aftermath? How do you go on?

Boring

[sbier · 3/10 · 14 August 2001]

My wife and I were bored. Maybe we were expecting too much: our best married-couple friends had seen the play here in NYC and raved about it. They had also just raved about "Wit", and we loved it. But "Dinner with Friends" had neither the fun nor the insights to do it for us. Certainly, if you're already an HBO subscriber, you ought to give this a shot. But do NOT subscribe because of DWT, and don't rent a tape if it's offered. You've been warned. -SB

It's about the machinations of friendship and how a couple handle their growing old together.

[eddax · 10/10 · 25 July 2002]

This movie is really about Gabe and Karen (Quaid and MacDowell) - how they tackle life as a couple. The movie begins with the collapse of Tom and Beth's (Kinnear and Collette) marriage, and proceeds to show the reason. Tom and Beth are no different from any other couple who eventually drift apart after years of marriage, but the real focus here is Gabe and Karen's hand in their inevitable parting.

We learn from a flashback that Tom and Beth were initially best friends of Gabe and Karen's respectively. They were set up to fall for each other. The setting was perfect - a beach house, a sunset, and both were in the thirties and ripe for marriage. Later however, we gather the truth about each person, and why the marriage was foredoomed to failure. What is impressive though, is that despite the unravelling of each person's flaws, we don't despise the characters. The flaws are realistic and it's easy for us to find them in our friends and perhaps in ourselves.

Tom and Beth are full of resentment, towards each other and towards Gabe and Karen. They have recently realized that they were not meant for each other, and they were just products of Gabe and Karen's subconscious manipulations. They had fallen into Gabe and Karen's perfect setting - having their best friends fall in love with each other and living out the rest of their lives together as a foursome. Tom and Beth even have two daughters as a foil to Gabe and Karen's two sons!

The movie reveals something I've noticed in many friendships. There is a dominant personality and there is a submissive one. The dominant friend has a dream of how his life should be and his submissive friend falls agreeably into the role created for him in that dream. It is like a script the dominant friend has written. He naturally writes himself into the Lead Actor role and he proceeds to create the role of Supporting Actor for his submissive friend.

Gabe and Karen's script involved growing old together as a foursome. The plot of their story had been written for four actors. Unfortunately they hadn't counted on Tom and Beth's withdrawal from their roles as supporting actors. Deprived of their backboard, Gabe and Karen are suddenly alone, and they realize that they have no idea how to handle their encroaching middle-age years without their four-way script beneath them. More importantly, they realize that they haven't had the need to communicate solely with each other until now and they have no idea how to do it.

The ending of the movie doesn't tell you if they wind up solving their problem. It just shows you how they tackle it - they begin to rewrite the script. However this time, there are no supporting actor roles as fallbacks. They have to learn to just rely upon each other as they grow old together.

My rating: 10/10

Reevaluating marriage.

[michaelRokeefe · 4/10 · 29 April 2008]

An HBO original presentation directed by Norman Jewison deals with not so blissful marriage. Two couples(Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell, Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette)have been friends for a dozen years--sharing summer vacations, talking about their children and gourmet food. One couple decides to call it quits and the other is put in the crossfire trying not to take sides. On a whole, this movie gets real abrasive quick. Your attitude toward the characters gets to the point...who gives a s*^t. Collette is so pathetic it hurts to watch her. And I still don't know who ever told MacDowell she could act. People may consider this a triumph for Jewison and HBO; I'm sorry, I was really hoping for better.

Match makers

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 8 December 2004]

Having seen Donald Margulies' play when it opened in New York, I was interested in what Norman Jewison, the director, had done with it for the screen version. It helps that Mr. Margulies did his own adaptation, although, it appears to this viewer, the stage version was more satisfying. Not that there's anything wrong with the film, it's just that the cast in the play was far superior than these well intentioned actors we see in the movie. Mr. Margulies has tried to open his play, but it just doesn't go anywhere.

The basic premise, and a caveat to good friends, is to stay away from "fixing up" prospective marriage partners, as things in life are a bit more complicated than a good ending in a book, a play, a movie, or human relations.

Karen and Gabe are happily married. They conjure to arrange a meeting with Beth, a painter, and Tom, a lawyer. Basically, the idea of having mutual friends meet one another, might not be bad, but in reality things should be let alone and let nature takes its course. The bright idea back fires on Karen, who, upon hearing at the beginning of the film that her best friend, Beth, is divorcing Tom, is visibly upset. She feels betrayed by these two people she was instrumental in bringing together.

It's hard for both, Gabe and Karen, to think where they went wrong in their match making roles. They never take into consideration that Beth is totally wrong for Tom, and vice versa. The problem is that this couple don't think that Beth and Tom have found new partners in what appears to be a much solid relationships than what they had together. Karen and Gabe are crushed, but in reality, not everything is perfect in their own marriage. We get hints that yes, they are not completely happy, but they have decided to stay in the marriage out of decency and out of duty to their two boys, which is what Beth and Tom have failed to do. Call them old fashioned, but one has to give Karen and Gabe a lot of credit for at least trying to stay together as a family.

Andie MacDowell is Karen; she is a beautiful woman. In the movie, Ms. MacDowell appears a bit distant. She loved to bring people together and resents their friends separation. Ms. MacDowell's Karen comes across as a hard and judgmental person. Dennis Quaid tries hard to give Gabe warmth. Perhaps he comes across as the best of the four principals. Toni Collette's Beth is an enigma until her confrontation with Karen at the restaurant, then, we see a woman that is not shy in telling her best friend off as she embarks in a new relationship. Greg Kinnear is Tom. He is perhaps the weakest link in the quartet, as he is perhaps, not treated fairly by Karen, or Gabe.

The movie remains a bit theatrical, but Norman Jewison has done wonders with the material.

Dinner with Vapid Friends

[cosmo-30 · 1/10 · 10 January 2003]

This movie is a Big Chill wannabe. But, it fails to achieve that noble status through insipid dialogue and contrived plot. I kept thinking...who cares!! Do these people work?...are they productive?, or do they just wallow, wallow, wallow in self-centered pitiful auto-examination? I was amazed that the script was written by a man, because the male leading actors talk like women. What guy follows another guy into a public restroom and talk about masturbation?! And so much attention to detail of sets, yet these wimps slug Heineken from the bottle and I could see it was plain water...probably Poland Springs. And Andy McDowell chopping garlic... the professional cookbook writer chopping the garlic skins with the garlic?! Good actors after a bad script and worthless story. Sorry, not even worth a rental.

If you like intelligent, well acted relationship dramas, don't miss this movie.

[ZuzuCom · 29 July 2004]

Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning play, Dinner with Friends is an insightful drama about four longtime friends and the way they deal with the breakup of 2 of them.

A realistic, well acted portrayal of relationships (both romantic and platonic) as well as their unraveling and strengthening. with excellent performances by Quaid, McDowell, Kinnear, and Collette.

Foodies will also enjoy this film's sincere appreciation of the joys of food, cooking, and travel. If you enjoyed Woody Allen's "Husbands and Wives" and Tom Noonan's "The Wife" you will love this sadly under-appreciated film.

MacDowell always seems detached...

[katie-35 · 4/10 · 5 February 2004]

The MacDowell/Quaid marriage seems like it is already on the rocks from the beginning. Quaid seems to make an attempt but MacDowell never does give her husband any softness except during the final scene when she asks him to talk to her.

Collet and Kinnear are doomed from the beginning.

The film doesn't seem like the give and take of marriage but a good example of two people, especially MacDowell, who are judgemental.

I hoped the plot would pick up and lead somewhere as suggested, but it failed. MacDowell has always been "cold" in her films. The other three would have a chance to give better performances with a better screenplay. Having Jewison attached made me want to see it more. I was disappointed.

Not Afraid To Dig Deep Into Marriage/Relationship Topics

[zkonedog · 8/10 · 23 May 2020]

Generally-speaking in the United States, marriage is considered one of the most sacrosanct institutions for human beings to enter into. So much so, in fact, that it is often above questioning or discussion as to its pros/cons. Fortunately, "Dinner with Friends" doesn't take that approach to marriage, instead examining it from many different sides to produce a thoughtful treatise on the subject.

The setup here is pretty simple: Married couple Gabe (Dennis Quaid) and Karen (Andie MacDowell) invited their similarly betrothed best friends Tom (Greg Kinnear) and Beth (Toni Collette) over for a dinner party. When Beth shows up alone, however, they eventually discover that Tom has left her and is asking for a divorce. What follows is a heartfelt examination of how married life can both help and hinder individuals based on their personal preferences.

One of the most brilliant aspects of this movie is how perfectly it is set up by director Norman Jewison. Viewers are only given "Beth's side of the story" to start out with...which completely plays into the hands of what is trying to be achieved theme-wise. As the film unspools, however, Tom gets his own say on the matter, and all those opinions even bring Karen and Gabe to question the nature of their own relationship. A perfeclty-executed flashback sequences in the middle of the proceedings really helps to "show, not tell" accordingly.

Like I said, this is a film that isn't afraid to "go deep" on personal issues. Yet, at the same time, it isn't at all preachy and doesn't take sides. Instead, Jewison simply portrays the difficulties of marriage and how individuals or couples can very much benefit from being honest about that rather than simply go along with the tradition of the matter.

A simple (yet remarkably effective) soundtrack helps pull at the emotions at all the right times, while the main four cast members were big names before 2001 and have remained so afterwards. In other words, a tour de force of actors bouncing back and forth off each other.

Overall, "Dinner with Friends" is a flick I now consider to be a bit of an undiscovered gem. A modern comp would be "Marriage Story", but even that one doesn't go the philosophical depths as this effort. If you are one who likes to question topics/ideas rather than simply accept them at face value, "Dinner with Friends" will likely become a personal favorite of yours as well.