Diner is a wonderful movie full of memorable scenes and realistic and likable characters. Extremely well acted and directed in a very personal fashion. So many scenes seem like conversations you may overhear in public, except they're too damn funny.
Diner is a quite simple collection of men and women at a certain moment, winter 1959. Eddie (Steve Guttenberg at his most tolerable) is about to marry his girlfriend, but first she must answer a quiz on the Baltimore Colts. Boogie (Mickey Rourke at his most tolerably smug) has severe gambling issues. Shrevie (Daniel Stern at his least shrill) and Beth (Ellen Barkin at her least abrasive) are a young couple realizing that married life is not all roses. Fenwick (Kevin Bacon, looking young) is a troubled joker who is shunned by his rich family. Modell (Paul Reiser, when he was funny) is one of the guys, the catalyst for some of the best lines. Billy (Tim Daly, actually in a real movie) is back in town for Eddie's wedding, and we get to join him as he gets back with his friends and family.
See this one. It has some real emotion, which means small quiet moments that ring true, and not some big sweeping emotional manipulations. A lot of the characters may remind you of people you know, and you actually start to care for how these people turn out.
And there is some great comedy in this. The interaction between the friends in the diner, the argument about the records, and Mickey Rourke's classic scene in the movie theater. ("It just.... Popped up?")
It works as a postcard from a more innocent time; a movie that can be enjoyed by baby boomers as well as their kids, and it still stands as Barry Levinson's finest. Considering he's also done Tin Men, The Natural, Rain Man, and Good Morning Vietnam, that's saying something. (OK, he also directed Toys, Sphere and Jimmy Hollywood, but give him a break.)
If you're a fan of comedies and still haven't seen Diner, you're fooling yourself. A pure classic, easily worth repeat viewings. Touching, sincere and very funny. Oh, and I hear it launched a career or two.
Barry Levinson's TIN MEN AVALON directorial debut chronicles the relationships between a group of friends living in Baltimore in 1959. The uniting fac...More at Family Video
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