Part captivating experience, part horrendous misfire
I’ll admit that The Dinner had been on my list of one of the most anticipated releases of the year. The book by Herman Koch had proven itself to be one of the most diverting reads of some time. The way it touched on issues of class, youth, privilege and how two sets of parents react when all of those elements affect their children through one monstrous act, was nothing short of compelling. Before I started Oren Moverman’s adaptation of this widely-praised novel, I was chomping at the bit to see it come to life. Midway through, I simply couldn’t wait for it to be over.
In The Dinner, Paul and Claire Lohman (Steve Coogan and Laura Linney) have arrived at a luxurious restaurant where they are to meet Paul’s brother Stan (Richard Gere), a Congressman running for Governor, and his wife Katelyn (Rebecca Hall). What starts out as a cordial dinner eventually erupts as the group are forced to confront the problem at hand; namely a devastating accident involving their sons (Charlie Plummer and Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick), which has the power to destroy their family altogether.
At the risk of making The Dinner sound like a truly dire affair, the film does a great deal right. For starters (no pun intended), the film contains one of the most stunning opening sequences of the year with a wonderful assortment of skillfully-done shots including elaborate food being prepared juxtaposed with images of other key elements, such as the scene of the incident in question. It’s a great, intriguing and effective way to set up the story. Meanwhile, the restaurant itself, a grand manor-like building that’s equal parts dark and elegant, with its labyrinth-like trappings, is the perfect setting for the kind of fireworks to take place. In fact, when The Dinner manages to stay in the restaurant, it works, especially in the way everyone’s capacity for maintaining civility begins to break down with each successive course of the meal. At the same time, the transition into the replaying of the tragic event is handled quite well, wonderfully interspersed with the parents struggling to enjoy their decadent meal. When the four enter the drawing room for their after-dinner drink, the explosions really come through one after the other. It’s here when The Dinner is at its most alive and really proves its worthiness. Unfortunately it’s a bit too late.
If only The Dinner had never ventured outside its perfectly gothic settings. But it does; and it fails on each of these occasions. Throughout the course of the film, the titular meal is continuously interrupted with a series of flashbacks that delve into a variety of subjects, including Claire’s illness and Paul’s anger issues, as well as his and Stan’s turbulent relationship. All of this results in a film with a tone that’s all over the place. While the flashbacks were both present and efective in the novel, here they come off as a stalling tactic, made worse by the fact that the action within them doesn’t come close to the excitement of the restaurant scenes. These flashbacks only serve to break up the flow and pace of what does work, despite their intention of fleshing out the characters. One specific scene which sees Coogan recite a history lecture to an empty classroom is meant to comment on how such notions are still prevalent, yet comes off as the kind of empty filler that’s maddening and does nothing to advance the film’s story. It’s these specific structure problems which keep The Dinner from reaching its full potential as a dynamic piece of cinema. Maybe the film is too straightforward of a project for Moverman. While efforts such as Rampart and The Messenger prove he can handle dark human complexity, Moverman might be too experimental of a filmmaker for something seemingly more straightforward such as The Dinner in spite of the conflict it presents.
As good an actor as he is, Coogan just doesn’t have what it takes to carry the central role off. Full of childish tantrums and empty outbursts, the actor is totally miscast in a role which requires an actor be totally in sync with the psychology of the damaged man he’s playing. Hall, meanwhile, is underused for most of the film until her voice is finally allowed to come out in the final act. Linney and Gere are as good as you would expect them to be in roles which perfectly play to their strengths. While Stan continues Gere’s acting resurgence in another layered portrait of a conflicted man, Claire unleashes the Linney’s maniacal ferocity which proves to be the pulsating heart of the film.
It has been reported that Koch walked out of the film’s world premiere at the Berlin film festival in February of 2017 after being greatly disappointed with what had become of the story and characters he had created. While some of his reaction can be chalked up to the usual displeasure most authors experience upon seeing their work hit the big screen, it’s obvious that the bulk of his feelings lie in the highly misguided adaptation itself. The Dinner should have stayed in the restaurant where it belonged, straying only to show the horrificness of the incident itself. When the film does this, it becomes a provocative examination on nature vs nurture. By sharp contrast, when the film delves into flashbacks in an attempt to dissect the motives of its main characters, it falls flat. All of this, along with a new ending which greatly compromises the integrity of the story and the characters, makes The Dinner feel like dries up leftovers.
The Dinner is now available on Blu-Ray and DVD from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.
