Diner (1982)

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Look, I'm a guy. I like guy sh*t. I actually happen to like guys more than just hanging out with them, but beyond liking having sex with guys, I'm pretty much a guy's guy. This movie made me HATE guys. Hate men. Hate every simpering, punchable character who was male. From someone who likes guys (both sexually and platonically), and for a movie full of (at the time) very cute, talented male actors, this movie worked very hard to make me LOATHE each and every one of them. Moreover, I really liked the females. I sympathized with them. From Steve Guttenberg's mother who didn't want to make her piece of sh*t son a sandwich, to Ellen Barkin, who was stuck with an idiot as*hole who didn't want her touching his records and actually conned his good friend to fake seduce his own wife (WTF?), to the girl that Guttenberg finally married (and why the F**K any girl would marry a bag of SH*T that makes her pass an inane test about football is beyond me). This is incredible. Barry Levinson - who was shockingly (or maybe not so shockingly) nominated for an Oscar for this drivel - should be more than ashamed, he should be flogged publicly. All he managed to do was make me want to eviscerate and choke the life out of every male character in this movie. I'm serious. If the flick ended in a bloodbath with the women killing every man painfully, I would be cheering!

This was the debut film from director Barry Levinson (Good Morning, Vietnam; Rain Man), and it also introduced us to many then mostly unknown actors that each went on to do bigger things. Basically the film is set in Baltimore, 1959, where a group of twenty-something male high school students reunite for the wedding of one of them. The group's regular hangout and meeting spot is in the Fells Point Diner, and they are challenging their relationships as they head for adulthood. Edward 'Eddie' Simmons (Steve Guttenberg) is the one getting married, Laurence 'Shrevie' Schreiber (Daniel Stern) questions why he is married to Beth (Ellen Barkin), Robert 'Boogie' Sheftell (Mickey Rourke) is a gambler with many debts, Timothy Fenwick Jr. (Kevin Bacon) is an irresponsible drunk with attitude problems, and William 'Billy' Howard (Tim Daly, as Timothy) is in love with a woman who is pregnant but doesn't want to marry him. There is no real plot as such, it is just taking a look at each of the five group members one at a time as they struggle with whatever problems they face as they grow up. Also starring Paul Reiser as Modell, Kathryn Dowling as Barbara, Michael Tucker as Bagel and Jessica James as Mrs. Simmons. It was nominated the Academy Award for scripting, but actually the actors were mostly ad-libbing which makes it look all the more naturalistic. My favourite scene is Stern getting moody when his wife doesn't order his record collection properly, I can be like that sometimes with my DVD collection. I think the big reason to see this film is to see where big stars like Guttenberg, Rourke and Stern really had their careers kick off in the way they did, it is a good old fashioned comedy drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for Levinson, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical. It was number 57 on 100 Years, 100 Laughs. Very good!

Barry Levinson's "Diner" is set in Baltimore in the relatively carefree days of the late 50's. For the young men in this film life revolves around girls and hanging out at the local diner. However, the freewheeling days of youth are waning and adult responsibilities loom on the horizon.The cast is made up of a number of actors who were relatively unknown at the time. The fact that so many of them went on to bigger & better things really says something about the casting. As for performances, I wouldn't single out anyone above the others; the cast is best considered as an ensemble.Structurally, the story's somewhat rambling and episodic though there are at least a few distinct plot threads. The film's looseness allows us to get to know the film's characters through observing them. Ultimately, though, while the story may seem a bit aimless at times it does indeed come together in the end.Levinson's direction is well-handled and he does a good job of bringing his own script to life. His actors really interact like they've been friends for years. The soundtrack also deserves special mention since it features an appealing and diverse mix of period-specific music.All in all, "Diner" is a well executed comedic drama, albeit one with more of an emphasis on character than on plot. With that in mind, the film's biggest fans seem to identify with the characters, so liking the film may depend largely upon personal experiences.

Who realized that back in 1982, a film like "Diner" would possess such an extraordinary wealth of talent, both on and off the screen. What was emphasized by this film's director, (Barry Levenson) was the impetuousness with which this movie's actors and actresses had to orchestrate. So often, during the film's production, Barry did not even say "ACTION" to commence a scene. So many times, would Levenson omit the word "CUT" for a scene to conclude. All of these non conventional actions by director, Barry Levenson,were for purposes of manufacturing a tertiary spontaneity from the actors in the movie. Such an auspicious lack of inhibition sparked a natural emotional realism that made the film "Diner" truly unique! Many scenes brought on a free spirited innocence that prevailed back in Baltimore in 1959 (The city and the year that this film was suppose to take place). "The Popcorn Scene" with Mickey Rourke was hysterically funny, as it is indicative of the sordid wiles men will engage in to get the attention of a beautiful woman, especially if it for purposes of impressing his close knit buddies!! "The Piano Scene" was one of the best scenes in any movie I have seen whatsoever!! Tim Daly's piano playing was a mandatory form of entertainment to break up the sedentary monotony of an ossified nightclub! The type of character Steve Guttenberg played was one which was very identifiable to me. I saw myself in Steve Guttenburg's character so many times in the movie, but, particularly in the "Piano Scene". I could envision myself dancing recklessly in dare devil fashion while wearing Shetland wool! This was so Steve Guttenberg's character, and, it was so much like something I might do as well!! This film focused on the bittersweet scenario, pertaining to the peculiar viewpoint by some barely adult men, who had a penchant for believing that an individual's sense of humor should be his single most coveted attribute in the world. Such a mindset purveys the ground-rules of survival being a case of how a human being's sense of humor should be endless, because his egregious flaws as an individual are endless as well!! "Diner" accentuated the necessary dichotomy between social cohesiveness and individuality! Ultimately, the film would bridge the gap with precocious candor. This itemization of quirky concepts accomplished a successfully ambiguous cultural dissemination of adolescent ideas with all the main characters of this movie. The incongruity contained in the conversations with everybody became a capriciously acute element to this film which successfully evoked a superbly unprecedented directorial finesse!! "Diner" did not win the academy award for best movie in 1982. When a movie wins an Oscar for best picture during any given year, it is usually a very good film. When a film manifests a fondness for individual expression by establishing a reality on how people truly are by what they find amusing, with that, emanates the real definition of a comedy. If a movie can accomplish such a feat, then this is an undeniably great film. Without question, the film "Diner' is a movie that may be put into this category!! A bevy of talented people partook in this movie. This box office bonanza of stars comprises of; Mickey Rourke, Steve Guttenberg, Tim Daly, Ellen Barkin, Daniel Stern, Kevin Bacon, and Paul Reiser. (Reiser's curiosity with the term, nuance, in this movie, later surfaced itself to reality by way of a production company which was entitled "Nuance Productions" that Paul Reiser was part owner of). Given the fact that so many actors, actresses, directors and producers have 30,000 square foot domiciles in Beverly Hills and on Park Avenue, it becomes rather obvious that money is not always a top priority with them. Ultimately, they realize that the purpose for making a movie is to raise the bar on entertainment standards. This encapsulation concerning man's sanguine flippancy about perpetual failure, which this film, "Diner" illustrated, was totally astounding! More specifically put, an integral facet of movie entertainment is predicated on accurately pinpointing what human nature is truly like. Often times, I have thought that if you only want to see two movies in your entire life, those two films should be "Glengarry Glen Ross" and "Diner". Both movies capture a grass roots recognition of what people's attitudes and instinctive reactions really are. I would give the nod to "Diner" over "Glengarry Glen Ross" because "Diner" illustrates a realism which is portrayed with a far more positive disposition! Such a reality gives "Diner" an enthusiastic identifiability. Attaining a stranglehold on the positive elements of human intuition in a movie like "Diner" is a goal that is so crucial to a film! So much so, that if a director does this, but, he does not win an Oscar for his film, his response should be "SO WHAT!!" The movie "Diner" is a one of a kind gem! "Diner" has achieved the ultimate accolade of being a movie which ignites a humanistic gratification to a near perfect state! This film has artistically conquered an elementary objective for making a movie! Such an accomplishment is what film making is all about, to which, I have only one thing to say, "An Oscar!! What's that?"