DINNER IN AMERICA | FILM REVIEW
Dir: Adam Rehemier (15, 108 mins)
A comedy that wears its style and oddball characters heavily, Dinner In America gradually grows on you, thanks to Emily Skeggs’ sweet-natured performance. Simon, played by Kyle Gallner is a punk rocker with an arson problem: a drug dealer full of attitude, commented-upon haircut and sideways smoking. He’s on the run from the police following a fracas at a random family dinner and bumps into Skeggs’ recently sacked animal carer, Patty.
Patty is obsessed with a punk rock band, particularly its lead singer John Q. She sends him dirty polaroid pictures and fan letters full of poetry between painful dinners with her parents. And guess what? Simon is John Q. Needing a place to crash, he ends up staying with Patty, and they gradually get to know and like each other. They set about taking revenge on the bullies and haters of their American Midwestern town, including abusive matching tracksuit-wearing jocks and former bosses as a punk gig looms on the horizon.
The film meanders, and some of its humour falls flat – especially in its opening half hour, with Gallner’s nihilist Simon proving hard to like. As the story progresses and gains focus, however, the dynamic between the duo settles down, becoming far more likeable. Eventually, Simon reveals his secret identity and they make sweet foul-mouthed music together, before a final family twist which adds weight to Gallner’s character.
Comedic support comes from Patty’s parents (a winning Mary Lynn Rajskub and Pat Healy) and brother Kev (Griffin Gluck) who discover the wonders of pot, thanks to Simon. Dinner In America amounts to a very singular vision from writer/director Rehemier: a punk comedy with plenty of derogatory language, greatly aided by Skeggs who coasts over some of the film’s more dubious moments.
Released via digital download on Tue 1 June
words KEIRON SELF