The Dinner (2017 film)

The Dinner
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Oren Moverman
Produced by
Screenplay by Oren Moverman
Based on The Dinner
by Herman Koch
Starring Richard Gere
Laura Linney
Steve Coogan
Rebecca Hall
Music by Elijah Brueggemann
Cinematography Bobby Bukowski
Edited by Alex Hall
Production
company
  • ChubbCo Film
  • Code Red
  • Blackbird
Distributed by The Orchard (United States)
Vertigo Releasing (United Kingdom)
Release date
  • February 10, 2017 (2017-02-10) (Berlin)
  • May 5, 2017 (2017-05-05) (United States)
Running time
 120 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $1.3 million (domestic)[1]

The Dinner is an American drama film directed and written by Oren Moverman, based on the Dutch novel of the same name by Herman Koch. It is the third film adaptation of the novel, following the 2013 original Dutch version Het Diner by Menno Meyjes and the 2014 Italian film I nostri ragazzi by Ivano De Matteo. The film stars Richard Gere, Steve Coogan, Laura Linney, Rebecca Hall, Chloë Sevigny, Charlie Plummer, Miles J. Harvey and Adepero Oduye.

The film had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on February 10, 2017, and was theatrically released on May 5, 2017, by The Orchard.

Plot

History teacher Paul Lohman and his wife Claire along with his politician brother Stan and his wife Katelyn meet up for an organized dinner that Stan booked for the four of them. The reason being is to discuss an incident in which their children Michael and Rick verbally and physically harassed a homeless woman at an ATM leading to her death when Michael threw a lit match that set her sleeping bag on fire, killing her.

Over the course of the night, tensions run amok among the dysfunctional group intercut with flashbacks that view the troubled family’s past. The arguments grow more tense as they clash on whether the boys should take the blame or to simply cover up their wrongdoing.

Paul himself finds his mental health deteriorating when he finds out that Michael uploaded a video of the woman’s death online. Michael even refuses to delete the video, thus becoming estranged from his father. Paul’s relationship with Stan is also strained after he hit him over the head with a frying pan.

After the dinner, Paul, broken and unstable, heads to Stan’s house looking for Beau, the adopted son of Stan and Barbara, Stan’s ex-wife. Paul violently confronts Beau and prepares to hit him with a rock. When he finds out that Beau is missing, an enraged Stan breaks ties with Paul as he, Katelyn and Claire try to frantically find Beau. The film ends on an abrupt note as Paul appears to suffer a heart attack and Beau’s fate is left unknown.

Cast

Oren Moverman (left) with cast of the film at Berlinale 2017
  • Richard Gere as Stan Lohman, Katelyn's husband and Barbara’s ex-husband, Paul's politician brother and Rick and Beau’s adoptive father.
  • Steve Coogan as Paul Lohman, Claire’s husband, Michael’s father, Stan’s brother and an ex-teacher of history in high school.
  • Laura Linney as Claire Lohman, Paul's wife and Michael’s mother.
  • Rebecca Hall as Katelyn Lohman, Stan's wife and Rick's and Beau’s stepmother.
  • Chloë Sevigny as Barbara Lohman, Stan's ex-wife and Rick's mother and Beau’s adoptive mother.
  • Charlie Plummer as Michael Lohman, Rick and Beau’s cousin and the only son of Claire and Paul.
  • Adepero Oduye as Nina, who works for Stan.
  • Michael Chernus as Dylan Heinz.
  • Taylor Rae Almonte as Kamryn Velez.
  • Joel Bissonnette as Antonio.
  • Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick as Rick Lohman, Beau’s brother and Stan and Barbara’s son.
  • Miles J. Harvey as Beau Lohman, Rick’s adopted brother and Stan and Barbara's adopted son.
  • Laura Hajek as Anna, Michael's girlfriend.

Production

On September 19, 2013, it was announced that Cate Blanchett would make her directorial debut with a film adaptation of the Dutch thriller novel The Dinner, by Herman Koch, scripted by Oren Moverman. Caldecot Chubb produced under his ChubbCo Film banner, and Lawrence Inglee, Eddie Vaisman and Julia Lebedev produced the film for Code Red, ChubbCo and Blackbird. Code Red fully financed the film and Protagonist Pictures handles international sales.[2] Olga Segura and Eva Maria Daniels executive produced, and helped with the development of the project.[2]

Later, in January 2016, it was announced that Moverman would also direct the film.[3] That same month, Charlie Plummer and Adepero Oduye joined the cast of the film.[4][5]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on January 21, 2016, in Dobbs Ferry, New York.[6][7] Later, filming took place in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, including at the Gettysburg National Military Park.[8]

Release

In May 2016, The Orchard acquired distribution rights to the film.[9] The film had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 10, 2017,[10][11] and went on to screen at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 24, 2017.[12][13] The film was theatrically released on May 5, 2017.[14]

Critical reception

The Dinner holds a 45% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 130 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Dinner's strong ensemble isn't enough to overcome a screenplay that merely skims the surface of its source material's wit and insight."[15] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 58 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[16]

Owen Gleiberman of Variety gave the film a positive review, writing: "Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Steve Coogan, and Rebecca Hall make a riveting quartet in Oren Moverman's adaptation of the Herman Koch novel about a dark-hearted dinner gathering."[17] Eric Kohn of IndieWire also gave the film a positive review, writing: "The Dinner mostly works so long as it stays at the table, and the unresolvable source of anxiety in play suggests that on some level, the meal never ends."[18] Boyd van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a negative review, writing: "By trying to keep the prolonged sit-down affair from becoming excessively stagey, Moverman adds too many distracting flashbacks to maintain the original's hard-hitting and well-aimed gut punch."[19]

References

  1. ↑ The Dinner at Box Office Mojo
  2. 1 2 Jr, Mike Fleming (September 19, 2013). "Cate Blanchett Sets Directorial Debut: Adaptation Of Herman Koch Novel 'The Dinner'". Deadline. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  3. ↑ Barraclough, Leo (January 18, 2016). "Richard Gere, Steve Coogan, Laura Linney to Star in Oren Moverman's 'The Dinner'". Variety. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  4. ↑ Kroll, Justin (January 19, 2016). "Charlie Plummer Joins Oren Moverman's 'The Dinner' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  5. ↑ Jaafar, Ali. "Adepero Oduye Joins Cast Of Oren Moverman's 'The Dinner'- Berlin". Deadline. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  6. ↑ Craig, Jon (January 25, 2016). "Westchester's Richard Gere Filming 'The Dinner' Along Hudson River". tarrytown.dailyvoice.com. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  7. ↑ "On the Set for 1/22/16: Michael Fassbender Starts Shooting Universal's 'The Snowman', Antonio Banderas Wraps on 'Security'". SSN Insider. January 22, 2016. Archived from the original on February 5, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  8. ↑ Chynoweth, Nicole (January 29, 2016). "Richard Gere films at Gettysburg hotel". flipsidepa.com. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  9. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 20, 2016). "The Orchard Orders Richard Gere Drama 'The Dinner' – Cannes". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  10. ↑ Lodderhose, Diana (December 15, 2016). "Berlin Film Festival Unveils First Competition Pics & Berlinale Special Pics". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  11. ↑ "The Dinner". Berlin International Film Festival. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  12. ↑ "The Dinner". Tribeca Film Festival. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  13. ↑ Cox, Gordon (March 2, 2017). "Tribeca Film Festival Unveils 2017 Feature Film Slate (Full List)". Variety. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  14. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (February 28, 2017). "'The Dinner' Trailer: Richard Gere & Steve Coogan 'Put It All on the Table'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  15. ↑ "The Dinner (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  16. ↑ "The Dinner Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  17. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (February 10, 2017). "Berlin Film Review: 'The Dinner'". Variety. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  18. ↑ Kohn, Eric (February 10, 2017). "'The Dinner' Review: Steve Coogan and Richard Gere Are Enraged Siblings in Oren Moverman's Intense Family Drama — Berlinale 2017". IndieWire. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  19. ↑ van Hoeij, Boyd (February 10, 2017). "'The Dinner': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
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