Dinner With Friends
Four Friends. Two Marriages. One Divorce.
From the director of Moonstruck comes a movie about food, fun and infidelity.
Gabe and Karen, Beth and Tom. Four close friends, two close couples. Married for 12 years, they planned on eating, drinking, and parenting their way into old age together.
But when Gabe and Karen host a dinner to try out some new recipes on their best friends, only one arrives bearing news that will test their friendship and even test their marriage.
When a close friend leaves his wife for another woman, whose side do you take? Is he deserting his family? Has she been sabotaging their relationship for all these years? Life can be funny, but not as funny, frustrating or unexpected as simply having Dinner With Friends.
Member Reviews
a film that could save a marriage - tbird
this film reveals some really important truths about marriage.it sheds light on a man's way of seeing things as well as the woman and does so with a sense of humor.i loved the ending. it was serious enough to hold my interest mixed with just the right amount of slight nuttiness."Cookin' lasts; Kissin' don't." - Yogini
Actually, it's more complicated than that - it's more like "Personality Cult vs. Character" or "Speculating vs. Investing," and haven't we learned a lot about that lately! Andie McDowell and Toni Collette always do good work! It was startling to see Dennis Quaid in the role of the "good" husband, and Ken Kinnear in the role of a "bad" husband. (I suspect that male persons will not see the Greg Kinnear character as "bad," but as "misunderstood" or "unfortunate.") One couple has more in common than children and their mortgage, and one couple had nothing in common but the children and the mortgage. In fact, they got together for all the wrong reasons: They envied the loving relationship of their friends, and they wanted to "come in, out of the cold," and get a good meal! When sex begins to look better on the other side of the fence, their marriage breaks up, and the viewer knows that they will repeat the process until they learn the lesson.Light and calm but will provoke chatter - eoguy
There is often much you have to overlook when a stage play is adapted into film, like the way the writers bang you over the head with character traits to make sure you don't miss them(particularly annoying is Andie McDowell's tiresome preoccupation with recipes while her friend is in the middle of a crisis). Her friend's over-the-top sobbing smacks of playing to the back of the house too. Overlook the first half hour's shortcomings and you'll be rewarded with a fine drama that offers many truths about relationships and the way we mess them up. The dialogue becomes less forced and these folks become believable. In fact, the moment Greg Kinnear appears everything in this film gets a lot more interesting, and it's not long before you care about these shallow people. You'll probably see yourself in one or more of them, maybe to the point of cringing. Toni Collette is the most engaging character and except for the afore-mentioned crying outburst, does the best acting as well. For a movie steeped in marital conflict, the ending is satisfying. Watch it with your spouse and you'll have lots to talk about afterwards.
This is the kind of movie you settle down with on a Thursday night with a cup of coffee or tea in your PJs.
Member Reviews
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a film that could save a marriage - tbird
this film reveals some really important truths about marriage.it sheds light on a man's way of seeing things as well as the woman and does so with a sense of humor.i loved the ending. it was serious enough to hold my interest mixed with just the right amount ..."Cookin' lasts; Kissin' don't." - Yogini
Actually, it's more complicated than that - it's more like "Personality Cult vs. Character" or "Speculating vs. Investing," and haven't we learned a lot about that lately! Andie McDowell and Toni Collette always do good work! It was startling to see Dennis ...Light and calm but will provoke chatter - eoguy
There is often much you have to overlook when a stage play is adapted into film, like the way the writers bang you over the head with character traits to make sure you don't miss them(particularly annoying is Andie McDowell's tiresome preoccupation with recipes ...