Review of Diner (1982) by Alex S — 20 Jul 2010

Paul Reiser, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke and Kevin Bacon in the same 1950s-oriented movie?! â??How could this impossible scenario be made better,â?? you ask? By adding Steve Guttenberg, of course. Actually, and it physically pains me to type this, the Gutte is not really flexing his acting chops hereâ?¦ like, at all.

Thereâ??s a lot going on, from an unexpected pregnancy to an upcoming wedding, gambling debts that need paying and even using a Christmas manger scene as a weapon at one point, but the central foundation here is the titular diner where our cast often sits for hours and talks about anything for the sake of talking.

These are often the best scenes while the external pieces are hit or miss (popcorn scene at the movies = hit; most anything involving Guttenbergâ??s marriage and a cringe-inducing swing dance number that felt like it was 83 hours long = miss).

Reiser may fade into the background, Stern may have one shining OCD moment with his record collection and Bacon may be a train wreck of a figure but make no mistake, Rourke is the star of this one. His scenes are heads and shoulders above everything else offered and as a result, the film shifts mood, tone and direction on a very frequent basis.

It may be uneven here and there and we may never see the bride who has to go through a literal testing phase before she can be married (it will make sense when you see itâ?¦ and thatâ??s a lie because even then it made no sense whatsoever but what do I know?), but for putting so much out there and connecting with most of it (especially the timeframe), this is not a bad film at all, and one more folks need to seek out.