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

1 win & 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:

What are you willing to do to protect those you love?

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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

For this movie, The Dinner, English actor Steve Coogan's American accent used sounded so much like Willem Dafoe, that jokingly, Dafoe contacted Coogan to ask him to do voice overs for a new puppet show he was supposedly "in-production" and asked if he could use his voice to help out finishing while Dafoe was out sick. Coogan thought it was a serious offer and asked to talk it over with his agent. Dafoe promptly told him he was joking and did offer to keep in contact, "just in case!"

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Connections

Referenced in Midnight Screenings: The Dinner (2017)

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Soundtracks

Fuckers
Written by Jehnny Beth, Fay Milton (as Fay Geraldine Milton), Ayse Hassan (as Ayse Yolander Hassan) and Gemma Thompson (as Gemma Louise Thompson)
Performed by Savages
Courtesy of Matador Records

User Reviews

Meatloaf

Something went awry between novel, screenplay and editing this film. It has good ingredients and should have come out well but due to bad timing and poor structure it sinks.

Supposedly a mystery, the drama really occurs, that is the spur to action, in the last quarter; sure, it has been implied up to then, but the four leads get to it then and some life seems possible. But no, it drifts to nowhere and to nothing. It doesn't need a neat resolution but it needs a dramatic conclusion and this has missed it by a long way.

The fault is the form which in a novel can work: out of sequence scenes, flashbacks, memories, etc but in this film are tedious and give too much time to one character played by Coogan, who is capable, but not convincing, and too afflicted by sibling envy to really provide forward movement.

Because Coogan's character is pivotal in the first half, the others are ancillary and when they come forward in the last quarter they are not given much: petty self- interest from the women, and high principle from the Gere-politician. It's not helped by the irritating architecture around the dinner itself and the food as some counterpoint to the bad tastes that are in character's mouths.

This probably looked good on the page but is not successful in its proper medium. Skip it and find some other fare.

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