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Rating: 5 out of 10
The Dinner focuses on two estranged brothers and their wives getting... you guessed it, dinner. The plot becomes more complicated when Paul discovers that the two couple's sons committed a serious crime that was being hidden from him. While the film does offer some critical questions about social classes in the United States, it can't seem to actually stay focused, which hinders its overall message.
The main positive element of this flick is the cast. It stars Rebecca Hall, Richard Gere, Laura Linney, and Steve Coogan, who all do an exceptional job. There wouldn't really be anything entertaining about this movie if the actors didn't sell the conflicts they have with one another. The emotions and feelings raging through this dinner felt real, and that was due to some great acting all-around.
I also thought that the central premise of The Dinner was very interesting. Its statement about social classes was very thought-provoking, as the main question the characters are pondering is whether or not covering up this crime is ethical. This is what we see in society quite often, as crimes involving people of lower classes tend to get glanced over and disregarded, while the rich/powerful may escape freely.
The main issue that I had with The Dinner is that it was a little bit all over the place. Steve Coogan's character narrating his feelings every 15 minutes was completely unnecessary and useless flashbacks were added to prove the tension between the two brothers. This was just uneeded, as it is fairly common for family members to become estranged, so we didn't really need to know every detail about why it happened in this particular story.
Along with that, the ending disappointed me. They teased that it was going one direction and then in an instant it flipped back around. They could have done a better job of actually wrapping the story up, because for me, it didn't really feel complete.
All in all, there are some good moments in The Dinner, but it's ultimately forgettable. If you have Hulu and want to check it out, then go for it! Otherwise, you can probably skip it.
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