A romantic dinner for two goes awry when the host’s long-lost brother crashes the party.
This little get-together seems destined for a bad ending from the get-go. Sima (Kelly Erin Decker), the hostess of the dinner, lets us know at the opening she is uptight, high strung, critical, and obsessed with Jack (Nick Holmes), a local poet with whom she has made an instant spiritual connection. Sima has invited her obsession to dinner and planned everything, food, decorations, and a very special wine perfectly. In fact, this film should have been named “Perfect” as that is actually Sima’s obsession. And she believes she has found that in her dinner companion. However, the plot quickly turns from the perfect dinner party into guess who’s coming to dinner (besides Jack). Enter Sima’s brother Calvin (Eric Gorlow) and his blonde girlfriend Bridget (Erica Rhodes), to spoil perfection.
This art film drama was made with a small budget and cast and crew. It appears filmed on location inside a house without some of the sophisticated lighting equipment associated with a bigger budget, more highly promoted work. “The Dinner Party” is intimate, depending on close-ups to catch expressions and softly mumbled words. It is based on characters and emotions with the story somewhat secondary. In fact, it is the screenplay that lets the film down. All is moving along believably until the scene in which Sima spills the glass of wine on Jack. Then everything gets weird. Weird as in fantasy, unreal, and ultimately unbelievable.
The actors in this little drama struggle under the weirdness. Kelly Erin Decker as Sima begins the film as a very soft young woman, barefoot, picking roses and setting that perfect table. And here she is at her best. But as the neuroticism grows along with the storyline, she has difficulty shifting between the “ice queen,” as her brother calls her, and the woman entwined in a spiritual connection with Jack through his one poem, THE poem that pulled her to him.
Nick Holmes as the poet manages better as his character maintains an easy “let’s all get along” attitude during the film. Even when he confronts Sima with his suspicions, he’s still almost embarrassed to do it. And he has the added chore of pulling off most of his scenes dressed in an adult onesie. I said it got weird, didn’t I?
Eric Gorlow is Calvin, Sima’s brother, and he is also responsible for this less than amazing story. He wrote the screenplay in addition to appearing. His version of Calvin is a hot mess. Most of the time I couldn’t understand him as he played a mumbling drunk. His best scene, however, had to be at the dinner table when he decides to eat with his hands. Carrying on a conversation while poking salad in his mouth was actually one of his best moments.
The best, most believable acting came from the most surprising character, the blonder “hooker” Bridget, who arrives with Calvin. She sets off all kinds of alarms with Sima, as Bridget is a looker, maybe not a hooker. I wasn’t surprised to learn Erica Rhodes does stand-up comedy as she brings great timing to the role and manages a subdued rather than loud and overt comic character.
Overall, the film just doesn’t hold interest either through the actors or the storyline. Camera shots are often very amateurish and appropriate lighting almost non-existent. The overall impression is a homemade entry in a film festival. I don’t think it will win.
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