DINER (1982)
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
REVIEW BY JOHN ULMER (Copyright, 2004)
"There's not that much of a story, really. What do we do? We drive
around. Maybe he's going to get married, maybe not. It's really more
about the fact that it's a very honest portrayal of a group...of guys
that people relate to on a very personal level."
- Kevin Bacon on the "Diner" DVD interview reel
In the opening scene of Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs," a
handful of characters debate the true meaning of Madonna's hit song
"Like a Virgin." Long before "Reservoir Dogs" (a decade, to be exact),
there was Barry Levinson's directorial debut, "Diner," a coming-of-age
tale concerning five Baltimore residents in their 20s who try to get
past crucial points in their lives. In a similar scene to that in
Tarantino's masterpiece, four friends -- played by Steve Guttenberg,
Mickey Rourke, Daniel Stern, and Paul Reiser -- argue over which
singer produces better make-out music: Mathis or Sinatra? "Presley,"
says Rourke's character, ending the conversation with blunt
confidence. And that's that.
The movie has plentiful rich dialogue, some of it seemingly pointless,
most of it subtly touching and meaningful. The film has a lot to say
about the difference between friendship and true love. "I love you,"
one of the characters tells the woman he wants to marry. Fixated on an
object behind him, her eyes cold and a grim reflection of deep
contemplation, she replies, "You're confusing a friendship with a
woman, and love. It's not the same." In a very different sort of way,
it tackles the same material as "When Harry Met Sally," but it doesn't
stop there.
The film is masterful in its ability to present us with a group of
people we sincerely care for, and who all seem very real -- more so
than the characters you'll find in most movies. The dialogue was
primarily improvised, especially by Paul Reiser, whose debates with
fellow pals are the highlights of the film. Even after the truly
poignant ending there is a discussion about evolution that plays over
the credits. "Did you hear about this evolution stuff?" Reiser asks.
He starts to mock the theories which would later become widely
considered as truth by scientists, despite lack of actual evidence
supporting the theory. Amusing, how the movie has so much to say about
so many different things.
"Diner" is a film that connects with us because we can all sympathize
with its characters and their inner motivations. Eddie (Guttenberg) is
afraid of getting married; Schrezie (Stern) is married and wishes he
wasn't; Boogie (Rourke) would like to finally find a girl he could
respect; Bill (Timothy Daly) wants to get married to the girl he loves
but she doesn't want to. The whole movie appears to be focused on
girls, and indeed most of it is, yet there's a lot of other stuff
that's even deeper. Fenwick (Bacon) is what Bacon himself described as
a "permanently drunk," sick kid who doesn't know what he wants out of
life, thrown out of his family and wandering the streets looking for a
meaning to his life. He's the character who is so lost he doesn't even
seem to care very much about girls.
The performances are top-notch, and some of the best ever recorded on
film. Levinson shot all the scenes inside the diner last, and gave the
actors time to grow on one another as close friends. Towards the end
of shooting, they were all comfortable in each other's presence, and
these true friendships are clearly evident on-screen -- we are
convinced that these are real pals, not just actors reading lines off
of a piece of paper.
The film is essentially about this group of Baltimore college kids in
1959 that come to a crossroads in their lives. They must grow up, but
they don't want to. They're still kids at heart. The tagline for the
film was, "Before the counterculture of the '60s, there was the
counter culture." The movie substitutes a new decade as the turning
point in their lives -- as the years roll on, so do their lives. The
end of the movie is simply astonishing in construction. To this day I
can't think of a better way for it to have ended.
The story is firmly rooted in its characters, which I think is one of
the most important aspects of filmmaking. You can have big budgets,
witty scripts, good ideas -- but you can't compensate for characters.
They are always the driving force of the movie, and I firmly believe
that almost any great story succeeds as such, in some way, because of
its characters. The actors playing them were chosen from over 300
hopefuls. They would later go on to have big careers -- Guttenberg in
"Police Academy," Stern in "Home Alone," Rourke in "Johnny Handsome,"
Bacon in "Hollow Man," Reiser in the television show "Mad About You,"
and Ellen Barkin -- her first role being that of Beth in "Diner" -- in
"Sea of Love," just to name a few. Yet these -- their earliest
performances -- are arguably their best. Ever. Guttenberg later went
on to become renowned for his poor acting abilities and grating
"comedy" -- he actually manages to act here, still obnoxious, but in a
more deliberate and likable way. Stern, who helped make "Home Alone"
one of the best comedies of the '90s, is absolutely perfect as
Shrevie. His performance is amazing because it is so very different
from his geeky roles in "City Slickers" and "My Blue Heaven." He's
still a geek in "Diner" but his character seems more real, less played
for laughs. His speech to his wife, Beth, about his records, is
touching -- first it is funny, and we are laughing at his absurd
obsession with records, then he snaps the line: "When I listen to my
records they take me back to certain points in my life, OK? Just don't
touch my records, ever! You! The first time I met you? Modell's
sister's high school graduation party, right? 1955. And Ain't That A
Shame was playing when I walked through the door!" It connects with
everyone, in some way or another, because we all value certain items
for personal reasons. Shrevie's are records. His obsession suddenly
becomes justified. It's the careful balance of laughter and emotion
that helps "Diner" succeed as valuable entertainment -- much in the
same way as "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," it's an '80s comedy that
contains elements of truth that so many others during that era missed
out on. Just like that speech that Steve Martin gives to John Candy,
we laugh. Then there is Candy's touching retort -- and we reconsider.
That is one of the many reasons that I love "Diner" -- because it is
smart enough to handle the audience without manipulating us, and
caring enough to let its characters roam free in a realistic
environment. If there's a single line of hokey dialogue in "Diner," I
must have missed it.
Prior to "Diner," Levinson was a nobody -- and perhaps that is why his
first project is that most in tune with its characters and their
natures. The movie was very risky when the studio released it in 1982
-- there was talk of shelving the finished product for fear of losing
money. Reluctant, MGM finally released the movie into theaters, but
with poor advertising -- it tanked. Yet it received some of the
greatest reviews of the year. In an effort to convince MGM, Levinson
showed a screening of the movie to critic Pauline Kael, who gave it an
exceptional review, as did the majority of critics at that time. On
the surface, "Diner" seems rather boring -- it's just a movie about
nothing, really, except growing up. Yet it captured the hearts of
many, becoming a cult sleeper that still entices new fans to this very
day.
It's a film of many integrating mixed genres, each one carefully
balanced and perfectly maintained throughout. "Diner" has some of the
best dialogue of all time, not to mention a handful of Oscar-worthy
performances. This is not Levinson's best but it's one of his most
deeply touching projects. It has a lot to say about many things and it
actually gets around to addressing them -- which is rare to find in
any movie. This is a true gem.
- John Ulmer
http://www.wiredonmovies.com
e-mail: webmaster@wiredonmovies.com
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