Review of Diner (1982) by Steph O — 17 Aug 2010

"Diner" is about 6 guys in their 20s who are all trying to get a grip on what they're going to do with their lives. They're also really good friends, and they regularly meet at the local diner. "We'll always have the diner" - they say to each other. I like that. The diner is their place, where they go to talk and joke around with each other. Forget all the other bullshit in their lives.

Tim Daly plays Billy, who comes back to Baltimore after being away for a while. Billy finds out that a female friend he slept with for the first time a month ago is pregnant. He wants to marry her, but she has a career and doesnâ??t want to marry him. Not â??out of convenienceâ??, she says. Steve Guttenberg plays Eddie. Eddie is getting married. Not before his wife passes a test on his favourite sport team though. Eddie's a pretty rude guy, but doesnâ??t mean anything by it. Mickey Rourke plays Boogie. Cool, calm and collected. A bit of a slime at times. Heâ??s a betting man. He bets that on his first date with a girl, sheâ??ll touch his â??peckerâ??. Whether he wins or loses this bet, is not my place to say. Itâ??s a pretty funny scene though. Back when Mickey Rourke was still pretty attractive.

Kevin Bacon plays Fenwick. Fenwick... is a little bit of a psycho. He punches in windows when drunk, he lies on the side of the road with ketchup on his face pretending to be dead â?? as a joke, he sits in a nativity scene in his underwear when drunk... heâ??s not the most put-together guy. Daniel Stern plays Shrevie. Heâ??s the married one. His marriage isnâ??t the happiest one, but it isnâ??t awful. He says he canâ??t even hold a 5 minute conversation with his wife, because they have nothing to talk about. Shrevie expects his wife to know exactly how he organises all of his records, and yells at her when she puts a James Brown record in the wrong category. What an ass. Finally, Paul Reiser plays Modell. Sarcastic, dry, always arguing. A great addition to the cast, because he's a really funny guy.

"Diner" is supposed to be a comedy-drama, but I think it's way more of a drama than a comedy. Or a sort of coming-of-age film. Honestly I didn't really like most of the characters. Except for Billy and Eddie. This whole movie just felt a bit too generic to me. Generic story, characters... even setting. I definitely prefer "Liberty Heights", another one of Levinson's Baltimore films. Levinsonâ??s love for Frank Sinatra is always hinted at in his movies. In "Diner" they start debates about Sinatra. In â??Liberty Heightsâ?? a character wonâ??t leave the car when a Sinatra song is playing. Not until itâ??s over. There are a few really good moments in "Diner", but not enough for me to love this movie. I like it, don't get me wrong. I definitely liked it. The ending was great. What I liked about the ending is what was missing from the rest of the movie, I think. Iâ??m not sure what that is though. I would recommend "Diner" because it's a classic and because Levinson is a great director, but not before recommending "Liberty Heights" or another director's great coming-of-age movie "American Graffiti".