Review of Table 19 (2017) by Flipje — 26 May 2021

Some films are so endearing and fun that critics cannot wait to smear their purple pen venom all over it. Sometimes I cannot help but think most snobs are secret sadists and unless a filmmaker makes some complicated, incoherent, elitist, brow-beating masterpiece or yet another 'woke' film, most critics will say pass and throw words at films like Table 19 like 'tepid' or 'awkward' and complain about it being unfunny.

But as Leonard Bernstein once noted, he'd been around the world many times and not once seen a monument or statue to a critic. Most of them don't even deserve a paper maché look-alike, being such humorless souls.

For me, I say, you want a fun movie with a bunch of misfits to hang around with, here's your chance. Sure, it tips its cap to The Breakfast Club, but instead of high school detention we're at a wedding with a former maid of honor (Kendrick), a convict (Merchant), a horny teen (Revolori), a bickering couple (Kudrow and Robinson) and the former nanny to the bride (Squibb).

The guests at Table 19, as you might guess, form to become an endearing and protective unit, a family throughout the course of the film where hijinks prevail but never feel forced. Each in their own turn, the characters reveal more of themselves, their strengths and weaknesses adding to the drama (again, yes, Breakfast Club-influence) and the more we watch, the more we want to spend time in this world with them.

By film's end, there is redemption, some loss and hope. I chuckled, laughed, smiled, sighed and when the credits rolled by, I felt cheerier, happier. The film satisfies. But then again, I am not some New York elitist who prefers films that make people want to throw themselves in front of buses or convince someone to bring a knife into the bathroom and run the faucet.

Table 19 is joyful, life-affirming, and the story is from the Duplass brothers. If you want something miserable, look elsewhere.