523. The Dinner; movie review
Cert 15
120 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong language, violence
Nowadays, Steve Coogan is one of those people who makes my skin crawl and I really struggle to separate his sanctimonious off-screen reality with his on-screen persona.
Indeed, I wish that I had never heard him interviewed because I find him so distasteful.
During Oren Moverman’s The Dinner, art mirrors reality because Coogan plays a truly obnoxious grump.
Actually, none of the four key characters are a fraction as palatable as the swanky restaurant food which is served up.
The film is set in an overbearingly pretentious establishment where the head waiter (Michael Chernus) describes each dish as if he were an 18th century poet.
Meanwhile, the wretched quartet ignore or even abuse him for being so appallingly fawning.
It transpires that there is a point to this horrific night out - the brother of Coogan’s character has called a summit to discuss a moral dilemma over their respective sons.
Richard Gere plays the sibling - a glad-handling congressman who is in the cusp of becoming governor.
He is despised by his brother - an academic with a fearsome temper and myriad mental health issues.
Their respective wives (Rebecca Hall and Laura Linney) are caught up in the toxicity of their relationship and the plight of their sons - thus, there is a lot of shouting, swearing and overflowing misery.
This is only mitigated by the compelling side story about what the sons have done and what the resolution should be.
Sadly, Moverman takes far too long to arrive at this moral conundrum and spends too much time with unlikable characters in a ghastly setting. The latter makes for both dull and uncomfortable viewing for most of his movie.
In fact, Coogan seemed to struggle to sell the film when I heard him interviewed a couple of weeks ago.
His misery was typical if understandable. Both he and The Dinner make tough viewing.
Reasons to watch: intriguing moral dilemma
Reasons to avoid: Steve Coogan being as angry as he is in real life
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 5/10
Star tweet
In THE DINNER Steve Coogan's character just looked into a cracked mirror. I'll be interested to see if that ends up meaning anything or not.
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