★★★★☆

4 May 2017

A movie review of ​THE DINNER.

By Hemanth Kissoon

Seen at the Berlin International Film Festival 2017. (For more information, click here.)

“It is more selfish to have kids, than not,” Paul Lohman (Steve Coogan)
 
THE DINNER skewers multiple targets, while also being a gripping character study. It may be a four-hander, but this is Steve Coogan’s movie. He effuses first world bitterness and undigested resentment. From a distance the audience can almost admires the monumental chip on his shoulder. From a distance. One would not want to be sucked into Paul’s centre of gravity. That is a world of pain and frustration. His voice is a running disdainful commentary on everything he feels inferior and superior to. Until I got used to Coogan’s American accent, it felt substandard, but actually made the character grate more. Even with heavy hitters like Richard Gere and Laura Linney, character-wise the film is really about him. Theme-wise, so much more.
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​There are multiple narrative time lines interweaving. Beyond the titular meal, there is a thread involving the offspring of the main four. Their story has a sinister vibe. One might even think of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE to compare and contrast the breakdown of values.
 
Paul’s older brother, Stan Lohman (Richard Gere), is the complete opposite. The latter is a congressman running for governor. Gere’s recent turn as a slick corporate titan in ARBITRAGE might have you wonder if he has taken amorality to a new degree here. Is he HOUSE OF CARDS levels of wicked? Surprisingly, as we wait for his political glad-handing to subside, he is seemingly the actual voice of justice.
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Stan has called a cryptic meeting of the brothers and their wives. It is a verbal dance until we find exactly the purpose. We are into the home stretch by then. The dinner reservation is at an exclusive restaurant, with a three-month wait list (that a congressman does not need to worry about). The venue is laughably pretentious. An early course is a vegetable garden involving “young root vegetables”, and they get sillier.
 
Katelyn Lohman (Rebecca Hall) is Stan’s trophy spouse, who has sold out and arguably wants her husband to follow suit. We first meet her in tears in the campaign people carrier. The ex of Stan is Barbara Lohman (Chloë Sevigny), and mother of his children, who is not present in the present – and warning bells go off as a result.
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​There seems to be a history of mental illness in the Lohman family – Paul’s mother and maybe now his son. Paul is a high school history teacher. A flashback shows an excruciating lack of respect for him. We don’t even get ALAN PATRIDGE laughter catharsis - just watch-through-your-fingers, social-car-crash humiliation. A question is raised: What happens when everyone views you as a liability? Interestingly he argues that history cannot compete with the present. Paul is obsessed with the Battle of Gettysburg. It is a clunky metaphor and not obvious what it is alluding to. Brother against brother?
 
Exploration of marriage, fatherhood, motherhood, family, are all packed into the runtime. The clan of Lohmans. (Note, all the wives have taken the surname).
 
“They are good kids, and they took a wrong turn.” Claire Lohman (Laura Linney). THE DINNER shifts gear into a commentary on corruption, and the entitlement of the next generation who have not earned wealth/power/influence. Race and class are thrown into the mix. The film is awash with societal double standards
 
The audience witness characters talking over each another, almost frantically, but no one listening. Watching a film full of awful people is still a rarity.
 
“What will he become if he gets away with this?” Stan.
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