Diner
"A small gem! A banquet of fast food and funny talk." - Richard Corliss, TIME
Fries with gravy, a cherry cola. Friendship, bragging rights...and does Sinatra or Mathis croon the best makeout music? Before there was the counterculture of the '60s, there was the counter culture.
From his Oscar-nominated script, Barry Levinson makes his directing debut with this endearing study of pals in transition. Film-debuting Ellen Barkin plays a neglected wife. Steve Guttenberg, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon, Timothy Daly and Paul Reiser -- chosen from over 600 hopefuls -- play the up-all-night buddies who work out the remnants of adolescence during ritual grazings at a busy steel-and-vinyl hangout in 1959 Baltimore. Stars, laughs, interlocking stories: entertainment is the daily special in Diner.
Member Reviews
Cozy, character-driven fall film - Scopitone
What a great, old-skool film. It's an 80s film, and the 80s were obsessed with 50s/60s Americana so this film takes place in that iconic setting - the 50s diner with comfy booths, waitresses, milkshakes.
I loved seeing young Paul Reiser and Mickey Rourke. So handsome back then!
It just has a great setting and the dialogue is great.Good, not great - shawn5
It's got some good dialogue, and even some of the stories taking place outside of the diner are interesting. I may have enjoyed this film more if I had seen it back in 1982. Because I saw it in 2008, I couldn't help but thinking how almost every actor was playing a character-type that they would continue to play throughout their careers (e.g. Rourke - cool, kind-of-bad; Guttenberg - goofy; Stern - likable, guy-next-door). Worth a watch, but didn't really strike me as being anything special.Classic storytelling - chrisnilan
This is a movie done the old fashioned way. No glitz, no special effects, just a basic story about good friends struggling with early adulthood.
That everyone in this movie became stars of some sort pretty much sums up this movie.
No one can be surprised that Rourke didn't participate in the 20 years later interviews, boy did he ever get weird.
Best line in the interviews is from Paul Reiser who says watch the beginning then go away for awhile and come back in the end, because that is all he is in the movie.
Great movie !
Member Reviews
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Cozy, character-driven fall film - Scopitone
What a great, old-skool film. It's an 80s film, and the 80s were obsessed with 50s/60s Americana so this film takes place in that iconic setting - the 50s diner with comfy booths, waitresses, milkshakes.
I loved seeing young Paul Reiser and Mickey Rourke. ...Good, not great - shawn5
It's got some good dialogue, and even some of the stories taking place outside of the diner are interesting. I may have enjoyed this film more if I had seen it back in 1982. Because I saw it in 2008, I couldn't help but thinking how almost every actor was ...Classic storytelling - chrisnilan
This is a movie done the old fashioned way. No glitz, no special effects, just a basic story about good friends struggling with early adulthood.
That everyone in this movie became stars of some sort pretty much sums up this movie.
No one can be surprised ...