| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Cameron Diaz | ... | Jude | |
| Ron Eldard | ... | Pete | |
| Annabeth Gish | ... | Paulie | |
| Jonathan Penner | ... | Marc | |
| Courtney B. Vance | ... | Luke | |
| Bill Paxton | ... | Zachary Cody | |
| Nora Dunn | ... | Sheriff Alice Stanley | |
| Ron Perlman | ... | Norman Arbuthnot | |
| Dan Rosen | ... | Deputy Hartford | |
| Amber Taylor | ... | Girl in Coffee Shop | |
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Matt Cooper | ... | Jerk in Coffee Shop |
| Charles Durning | ... | Rev. Gerald Hutchens | |
| Mark Harmon | ... | Dominant Male | |
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Gil Segel | ... | Iowa Resident at Door |
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Rachel Chagall | ... | Abortion Activist |
Jude, Luke, Marc, Paulie and Pete are liberal-minded roommates and grad students at a Iowa post-secondary institution. Every Sunday for the past year, they have hosted a dinner party, inviting a friend over to have an open-minded discussion about whatever topics are of interest. On a dark and stormy night when Pete was supposed to bring a friend for one of those dinners, he instead comes home with Zachary Cody, who rescued a stranded Pete whose car broke down. They invite Zach to stay for dinner instead of Pete's missing friend. They soon find out that Zach is among other things a racist neo-Nazi, which brings up a potentially dangerous situation for Jewish Marc and black Luke. After some physical altercations and verbal threats, Marc ends up stabbing Zach dead out of what he considers self-defense. As the friends discuss what to do about Zach, they finally come to the conclusion that in killing Zach, they have done society a service. So they ponder 'why not invite other ... Written by Huggo
This is a dark comedy/drama about extreme political views and intolerance. The point of the movie is that some people just wants to be told right and have whatever opinion they have prevail in society.
The message is supposed to be that both extremes are just as bad, and the arguments of both parts are just as simple minded and void of deep, that's intentional. But also that both have the right to exist and is healthy for a society to have a wide variety of opinions.
None of the characters are supposed to be geniuses or deliver any intelligent argument, on the contrary: they're meant to be very close minded. It's obvious that the characters are supposed to be opinionated, self righteous and vapid...not to mention over the top stereotypes (and i mean both the hosts and the guests). The movie itself it's an exaggeration to illustrate a point.
As the plot progresses the characters get more sucked into violent actions (by conviction or group pressure), the bodies start to pile up and the situation spirals out of control. The only character that is more on the normal side, is the cop/sheriff (Nora Dunn). Side note: I liked her performance by the way, and I usually don't like her acting, but she was OK in this one (although not very memorable).
I'm sad to see some of the people who made reviews for the movie didn't get what it was meant to say or bother to watch this all the way through (because it's mentioned in the movie near the end, in case you are a bit slow). But that is exactly the point of the movie, some people just wants to be told right and have whatever opinion they have prevail in society.
On the comedy side, it's got a mild feel of screwball without going too crazy with it, that was very enjoyable. To put this in other words: it doesn't go into Clue or Arsenic and old lace territory, is more subtle but is still noticeable. The comedy moments are very controlled, but is still very funny if you relax and just watch it, instead of taking sides.
To sum it up, the plot is original enough to be interesting and it's very funny if you don't get defensive. It delivers what was promised.