THE INVITE Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Olivia Wilde
Stars: Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Edward Norton, Penelope Cruz.
This biting, incisive, and well written comedy about marital discord and an awkward dinner party comes across as something of a cross between The War Of The Roses and Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, without the viciousness. The film opens with a quote from noted wit Oscar Wilde – “One should always be in love. That is the reason why one should never marry.”
We meet married couple Joe (Seth Rogen) and Angela (Olivia Wilde, who also directs the film). Joe is a music teacher who is frustrated at how his life has turned out and how his dream of becoming a musician has faltered. Angela is a stay-at-home wife. The couple have recently completed renovations on their San Francisco apartment, which Joe inherited from his parents. Angela has invited their upstairs neighbours for dinner as a way to apologise for the noise and disruptions caused by the refurbishment.
But Joe is in an angry mood when the neighbours arrive, ready to confront them about the loud lovemaking noises that regularly emanate from their apartment. Angela however wants to avoid any nasty confrontations and urges Joe to be quiet. Hawk (Edward Norton) is a former firefighter while his partner Pina (Penelope Cruz) is a sex therapist, and the couple admit to holding sex parties in their apartment, a revelation which both angers and intrigues Joe and somehow interests Angela.
The conversation between the two couples is heated, sometimes funny and acerbic, awkward and laced with sexual undercurrents. But eventually Pina encourages Joe and Angela to become more open about their troubled marriage. Their newfound openness and honesty forces them to confront the painful truth behind their discontent.
Written by actor and screenwriter Will McCormack (2012’s Celeste And Jesse Forever, etc) and actress Rashida Jones (who both collaborated on the screenplay for Toy Story 4) The Invite is an English language remake of The People Upstairs, a Spanish film that screened at Palace Cinemas during the 2020 Spanish Film Festival. That film was adapted from the stage play of the same name written by Cesc Gay, who also helmed the film version.
This Hollywood version remains reasonably faithful to the source material and seems very theatrical in its staging with the drama confined to a single limited set and featuring a small cast of four actors. Jade Healy’s production design is good in creating Joe and Angela’s cluttered apartment. Cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra deliberately frames the film through doorways and windows and mirrors to give it a sense of space.
The Invite marks Wilde’s third film as director and she does of good job of handling the material. She emphasises the awkward silences and mines the discomfort of the gathering for some rich humour. She draws strong performances from her ensemble cast who seem to relish the dialogue.
Cast against type Rogen delivers a strong performance, giving the flawed Joe an abrasive edge while also exposing an emotional vulnerability and showcasing his sense of insecurity. Cruz brings sex appeal and charisma to her role as the confident Pina. Wilde herself brings a manic quality and desperation to her performance as Angela, who seems keen to ingratiate herself with her neighbours. Norton lends charm and an unexpected pathos to his characterisation of Hawk.
However, this film seems a tad too long. Gay’s original ran for a tight 82 minutes, but Wilde and the writers have added another 20 minutes to the material allowing them to more fully develop the characters.
This is one dinner invitation that is worth accepting.
★★★☆
