The Dinner (2017)

Two sets of wealthy parents meet for dinner to decide what to do about a crime their sons have committed.

Director:

Oren Moverman

Writers:

Herman Koch (based on the novel by), Oren Moverman (screenplay by)

Stars:

Michael Chernus, Taylor Rae Almonte, Steve Coogan

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Chernus	...	Dylan Heinz
Taylor Rae Almonte	...	Kamryn Velez
Steve Coogan	...	Paul Lohman
Charlie Plummer	...	Michael Lohman
Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick	...	Rick Lohman
Miles J. Harvey	...	Beau Lohman
Laura Hajek	...	Anna
Laura Linney	...	Claire Lohman
Richard Gere	...	Stan Lohman
Rebecca Hall	...	Katelyn Lohman
George Shepherd	...	Stephen Whitney (as George Shephard)
Adepero Oduye	...	Nina
Joel Bissonnette	...	Antonio
Patrick Kevin Clark	...	Conor
Chloë Sevigny	...	Barbara Lohman

Storyline

A former history teacher and his wife Claire meet at a fancy restaurant with his elder brother, a prominent politician and his wife Babette. The plan is to discuss over dinner how to handle a crime committed by their teenage sons. The violent act of the two boys had been filmed by a security camera and shown on TV, but, so far, they have not been identified. The parents have to decide on what to do.

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Plot Keywords:

wealth | father son relationship | mother son relationship | husband wife relationship | restaurant | 

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Taglines:

How far would you go...to protect your children?

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent content, and language throughout.

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is actually the third film version to be made from Herman Koch's best selling novel. A Dutch film came out in 2013, and an Italian one in 2014. Both were well received and nominated for numerous awards.

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Connections

Version of The Dinner (2014)

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Soundtracks

Keep On Walking
Written and Performed by Len Amato
(c) Len Amato

User Reviews

Ethics

The premiere gave way to a little scandal here, as the original writer of the novel bluntly refused to attend the reception afterwards, citing how bad the movie was and strayed from his intentions, finding it too moralistic as he saw it as an immorality tale; and themed too much around violence and mental illness.

This is however a well-directed movie by Moverman that stands on its own and the whole feud is a classic case of writer dissatisfaction with the liberties a director has taken with the material, remember King for The Shining or Kundera for The Unbearable Lightness of Being. So instead of playing the blunt drama queen the writer could have respected the interpretation, but they almost never do being in love with their own material.

This is well-directed by hiding the story like Haneke often does, next to putting you multiple times on the wrong track where the movie is heading. The movie works by playing to fundamental human psychological weaknesses the characters show in observing and interpreting information, and working that into the script so the viewers make the same mistakes. Clever. Sometimes however, the director is too much in love with his script, with overlong sequences in Gettysburg (we get the picture after ten seconds, but it draws out for minutes) and history lessons by Coogan as a teacher. Next to this it has several weakness in editing, the cinematography is also average, and the dark humor often falls flat.

Gere, Coogan and especially Linney give excellent performances, contributing to the unsettling effect the movie ultimately has.

Yes, it is a morality tale, but I disagree with the general view currently established that this is preachy, after all the ending is open and the moral dilemma is anchored in personal strife and views on solving these dilemmas, referring back to several schools in ethics like teleology, deontology and utilitarianism.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 May 2017 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Dinner

Filming Locations:

Dobbs Ferry, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$653,944, 7 May 2017

Gross USA:

$1,323,312

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,544,921

Company Credits

Production Co:

ChubbCo Film, Blackbird, Code Red

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1