Customer Reviews

Dinner with Friends

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I loved the original play that the film was based on. I found it to be a wonderfully intelligent exploration of monogamy and marriage that put other like plays and films to shame. The movie does the play justice (although the play is still better). Be warned, this is a VERY "talky" piece. Not necessarily much plot action. It is mainly people sitting around talking about what is important to them. I LOVE THAT. If its not your bag -- you were warned.

Casting is just short of great. I can't remember her name, but the blonde is very good, as is Greg Kinnear as the couple who split up. Nice work all around. ... Andie MacDowell ... takes what is a very interesting character and does her usual walk around and whine while looking pretty routine. Awful awful awful. However, this is surprisingly made up for by one of the gutsiest casting choices I've seen in awhile with Dennis Quaid. Anyone who thinks Quaid can't act should see this film. This character is VERY unlike anything he's done before -- much more feminine quality than we've seen before, while remaining strong and overtly masculine. He's articulate and sensitive ....AND HE COOKS FOR A LIVING!!! Anyway, can't go into it all here, but its the best thing he's ever done with the possible exception of THE RIGHT STUFF.

The final scene, as with the play, is one of the most important scenes I've watched in a long time. Andie MacDowell even works. Its the most delicately beautiful exploration of love and marriage I've ever seen.

Want to spend a "thinky" evening? Watch this with some friends and then have dinner. My wife and I still talk about this film and what it means.

But watch this film. Its truly outstanding. I'd give it 5 stars except for Andie MacDowell and slightly watering down the play's original script.

Synopsis: A happily married couple with two sons and great jobs learn some shocking news, that their fellow best friends and spouses, are separating. What ensues is a look at the strength of their marriage, in comparison to the one that is disintegrating before everyone's eyes.

Review: A friend and I had a conversation about the state of Hollywood movies today. That for every Swordfish and The Grinch remake (an obnoxious film at that), a small film like Sexy Beast or another will go virtually unnoticed by the likes of big Hollywood business. In today's profit driven society, smart films are finding their home on cable. In "Dinner With Friends", this drama is riveting, not for any kind of suspense, but for a study of what people really are, and what they do in life. Adapted from a stage play, the words seem real right down to the very last word. As the film's writer and director bring the film's situations to your own judgment, as to who these people are and what they can be like. It's a character study that doesn't exploit people, and it lets their actions speak for themselves. Overall, a good film.

As an accidental rule, I love movies with 6 characters or less; the ones stripped down so that each characters personality can come through in a way that can not be enhanced by effects, special settings or other frills.

I've watched this movie twice now and I can already say that I've picked up on several of the many, I'm sure, nuances here. Four characters, two mairrages, one divorce and each is remarkably done. I especially appreciate that none of the characters (even Kinnear's adulterous character, which he seems typecast for now) is presented as flawed, spirited and in a way, noble. Gabe (Dennis Quaid) is heartbreaking as he has taken back-seat in a mairrage to a strong woman (McDowell) who, while wanting, nay demanding, her husband talk to her more, always manages to tell him how stupid the things he says are. Also the contrast between the pairs is phenomenal. Tom is the confident divorcee, Gabe is the soft-spoken married one. Beth is the free-thinking, and maybee too free-thinking, now single, artist, and Karen is the organized and 'moralistic' married woman, trying all-too-hard too hold a friendship between the four together.

Whether you are 21 or 71, married or single, male (well...maybe) or female (for my part, I am a 26 year old, happily single, male), parts of this film will speak to us all. Whether it's Tom's frank talks with Gabe about his wife's refusal for even basic physical contact, Gabe's rebuttal about the joys of mairrage and growing old with a sweetheart, Karen's dream about "the two us's" or Beth's attempts to remain aloof and free from it all. You may laugh, you'll certainly cry, you'll probably scatch your head, you'll pick a character to hate and find out you werer wrong, and you'll pick a character to love and find out you were right.

Even though the title may not sound too appealing, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the acting and the written dialogue in this movie. Dennis Quaid and Andie McDowell play this married couple who are shocked by the news of the divorce of two of their best friends. The news of the divorce really tests the friendship between the two couples and cause the married couples to think about what commitment is all about.

I liked this movie because the dialogue was very realistic and the movie made me think about what commitment in marriage and friendship is all about. It is an excellent and thought-provoking movie to watch and discuss. If you like movies that deal with important issues about relationships, you'd definitely like this one!

I highly recommend it!

This movie amazed me. After the credits rolled, I sat there thinking that I should probably just start it back up and watch it again. What a surprising, detailed portrayal of self-deception. The way we can live with lies and not realize it at all. And manipulate others so that they reinforce those ways we are deceiving ourselves. Whew. Great acting from all four. Great story.

This was a remarkable work of art. It was quite obvious that everyone involved was emotionally invested in the project.
First of all, kudos to the playwright; I'm always impressed when male writers can capture the female psyche with expertise and intuition and translate it to a three dimensional character. Expect nothing less than completely truthful revelations about what women are like, or what they can become, in long-term relationships. It may be painful for some people to watch because many of us in this society go through our relationships with blinders on; a lot of couples live in denial. Hopefully this film will foster some degree of understanding, compassion, and discussion in its viewers.
Secondly, the cast was nothing less than extraordinary. Because of the rich dialogue, these actors were finally given a chance to show a great deal of range. Dennis Quaid's performance was simply incredible; he surprises me all the time by outdoing himself with each new role. It's a testament to how often women underestimate men and their complex needs and desires within a relationship. A couple of the scenes involving Dennis Quaid's and Greg Kinnear's characters are the most heart-breaking because they reveal a great deal of wisdom that tragically, they cannot manage to impart with their wives. Toni Collette and Andie MacDowell are equal to the task of playing against the two male leads. There is a great deal of humor, warmth, and chemistry between all of the actors.
I highly recommend this film to anyone who is interested in understanding the opposite sex. There's an important lesson to be learned as well: when it comes to relationships, we are all active participants and we need to learn to take accountability for our actions. Especially those we inflict on our loved ones.

This is the type of four-person drama that hardly makes it to the big screen anymore, and indeed this 2001 movie originally aired as an HBO film. Adapted by Donald Margulies from his own Pulitzer Prize-winning play, the film documents the unraveling relationships among two married couples who have been best friends for twelve years - Gabe and Karen, a perceived model of professional success (as renowned food writers) and domestic stability; and the other, Tom and Beth, in a state of irreparable collapse. Veteran filmmaker Norman Jewison (whose last successful film was probably 1987's "Moonstruck", his Italian-American valentine to improbable romance) has a proven track record for allowing actors to inhabit characters realistically in difficult situations. This movie proves he is still in peak form in this regard.

The story begins with Beth breaking the news to Gabe and Karen that Tom has left her. Gabe and Karen immediately take sides and start to question the stability of their own relationship. In the meantime, Tom is basking in the happiness of his new relationship with a younger woman, even as his best friends have become judgmental about what they see as a vainglorious, selfish act from a husband and father of two. Beth also goes on to find a new lover but also faces similar disapproval for moving on too fast. Although the film goes into an extended flashback sequence to have us understand the genesis of their long-standing friendship, the movie pushes forward the individual revelations of each principal in superbly executed scenes driven by Marguiles' perceptive, sometimes clever dialogue. There are unexpected comedy elements as well, for example, when a post-meltdown Beth blows her nose in the expensive placemat Karen bought for her in Italy.

The actors shine most unexpectedly. I always thought of Andie MacDowell as a rather flat but obviously lucky presence on the screen. Here she finally seems closer in proximity to a real, flawed human being as Karen. Her character is the picture of image-conscious perfection unable to tolerate, much less accept, disruptions to her controlling existence. MacDowell is still not a great actress, but at least she bravely reveals the unattractive underside of a character genuinely at a loss to deal with her best friends' break-up. As usual, Toni Collette nails her part perfectly as Beth, showing dimensions of the wronged wife that are both surprising and viscerally honest. The real surprises in the cast, however, are the men. As Tom, Greg Kinnear adds substantive depth to his standard happy-go-lucky guy and does not come across as his usual likable scamp at the least. The standout may be Dennis Quaid as Gabe, an assured performance from an actor who has not shown this much introspection onscreen before. In fact, he brings an almost fey quality to the early scenes and then gains more heft as the uncomfortable situation comes closer to home.

The most affecting scenes are the ones involving two of the characters at a time in revealing exchanges - Karen and Beth discussing Beth's new lover over lunch, Tom facing Gabe's resentment and jealousy at the bar, Gabe and Karen revealing their tactics to avoid intimacy as they prepare for bed. Given that Quaid and MacDowell play diehard foodies, there are plenty of shots of luxuriant food that any lover of the Food Network will savor. The film is beautifully shot by cinematographer Roger Deakins, who uses effective burnished amber tones for the flashback sequence. This is not for everyone, but the maturity of the drama and the top-notch performances make this one most worthwhile.

DINNER WITH FRIENDS as a cinematic adaptation of the play of the same name by Donald Margulies succeeds on every level. The story is an investigation, over time, of two couples and how their connectedness differs. Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell are a happily married couple, so enjoying the married state that they introduce their best friends Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette during a summering at Martha's Vineyard. What happens in the ensuing ten-odd years to each of these couples makes for the grist of this very conversational tale. This is an astute study of relationships - how they develop through attraction, how they wear with time, how they succeed or fail. There is nothing new about the ideas in this engrossing film, but as directed with great sensitivity by Norman Jewison and with the inimitably fine acting by Quaid, MacDowell, Kinnear, and Collete it becomes a finely tuned psychological study. An exceptionally fine film that grows better with each viewing.

it's amazing how they spit out dialogues in rapid fire fashion between each other without missing a beat. The dialogues don't sound rehearsed or forced at all. Plus the fact that they are very true and realistic in terms of expressing the characters' personality, state of mind, and emotion.

I would highly recommend this movie to those who are interested in knowing the dynamics in marriage and personal relationship.

This film is a flawless treatment of four people's views of one universal abstraction: love (and the commitments it entails). Refreshing dialogue, encompassing performances (particularly Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette), and beautiful framing combine to make a terrific and demanding film experience.