Diner (1982)

A group of college-age buddies struggle with their imminent passage into adulthood in 1959 Baltimore.

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writer:

Barry Levinson

Stars:

Steve Guttenberg, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Guttenberg	...	Edward 'Eddie' Simmons
Daniel Stern	...	Laurence 'Shrevie' Schreiber
Mickey Rourke	...	Robert 'Boogie' Sheftell
Kevin Bacon	...	Timothy Fenwick Jr.
Tim Daly	...	William 'Billy' Howard (as Timothy Daly)
Ellen Barkin	...	Beth Schreiber
Paul Reiser	...	Modell
Kathryn Dowling	...	Barbara
Michael Tucker	...	Bagel
Jessica James	...	Mrs. Simmons
Colette Blonigan	...	Carol Heathrow
Kelle Kipp	...	Diane
John Aquino	...	Tank
Richard Pierson	...	David Frazer
Claudia Cron	...	Jane Chisholm

Storyline

Early twenty-something Baltimoreans Eddie, Shrevie, Boogie, Billy, Fenwick and Modell have been friends since they were kids, where the center of their lives has been and still is the Fells Point Diner. It's the last week of 1959. Baltimore Colts fanatic Eddie is scheduled to get married to Elyse on New Year's Eve, but may call off the wedding if Elyse doesn't pass his Colts quiz which he will hold two days before the scheduled wedding. Inexperienced Eddie turns to the only other married one among the bunch, electronics salesman and music aficionado Shrevie, for advice, he who may not be the best person from who to ask advice on marriage since he doesn't yet realize that he probably got married to his wife Beth for the wrong reasons. Indeed, Beth, who has lost her sense of identity, is unhappy in their marriage, and contemplates having an affair with someone who provides what she believes is a sympathetic shoulder. Hairdresser and law school student Boogie is the player of the bunch, ...

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Plot Keywords:

diner | salesman | directorial debut | one word title | jew | 

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Taglines:

Suddenly, life was more than french fries, gravy and girls.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 May 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

American Diner

Filming Locations:

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$14,100,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM),SLM Production Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Barry Levinson had the main actors arrive in Baltimore a week before filming began to get to know each other and build rapport. Predictably, the young male actors went out on the town to clubs and tried to pick up women. Sometimes they would use bogus stories about what they were doing in Baltimore. Tim Daly says he came up with the most popular one, that they were engineers working on a rotating rooftop restaurant.

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Goofs

During the wedding scene, the bass player's electric bass has block inlays, a feature not found in Fender electric basses until the late 1960s.

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Quotes

Boogie: It was an accident.
Carol Heathrow: An accident?
Boogie: Oh, Carol, seriously, it was an accident. I swear to God.
Carol Heathrow: An accident? Your thing just got into a box of popcorn?

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Crazy Credits

The end credits run as we hear another diner conversation between the guys.

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Connections

Featured in The Joe Rogan Experience: Owen Benjamin (2017)

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Soundtracks

Goodbye Baby
Performed by Jack Scott
Courtesy of Carlton Record Corporation

User Reviews

A nice visit with recognizable characters.

I wasn't really wowed by this film.It doesn't really have a captivating story,great scenery or great special effects (the latter is never really necessary anyway).What you have is a group of guys,each of them representing someone most of us know or have heard of.We are introduced to them,and over the course of the film,we get to know them,and by film's end,we had an overall pleasant time.The film has a place on the AFI's 100 Years,100 Laughs list,which brought me to watch it.I don't question it's placement there because we all have different senses of humor,but I can't say that it really generated a lot of laughs for me personally.Overall,it was enjoyable enough and I may visit it again one day.