The Dinner (2014) User Reviews

Below-the-radar movie dissecting the escalating tensions between two brothers

[paul-allaer · 8/10 · 16 November 2015]

"I Nostri Ragazzi" (2014 release from Italy; US alternative titles: "Our Boys" and "The Dinner"; 92 min.) brings the story of two brothers in Italy (one a doctor, the other a lawyer) and their respective wives and kids. As the movie opens, we get to know the brothers, Massimo and Paolo. The two couples get together for dinner once a month to catch up. Meanwhile, we also get to know the two high school age cousins, who are hanging out a lot with each other (perhaps a little too much for being of the opposite sex?). Then, one day, a savage attack against an elderly woman takes place and the security cameras capture what looks to be the two cousins. Are the cousins responsible? How will their respective parents deal with this situation? To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is a below-the-radar movie that actually does a really good job dissecting the escalating tensions between the two brothers and their respective wives and kids. The movie also compels further thinking on 'doing the right thing' and the potential costs, emotional and otherwise, not only to the potential criminals (i.e. the cousins), but also their parents, I must admit that I am not familiar with any of these Italian actors and actresses, nor am I with the movie's writer-director (Ivano de Matteo).

I recently caught this movie during a transatlantic flight on Delta Airlines. I was rather impressed with the selection of movies, including a significant amount of foreign movies. I had not heard of this movie, and doubt very much that this ever reached US theaters. Glad that I had a chance to check it out, and if you are into foreign and indie movies, I'd readily recommend that you check this out. "I Nostri Ragazzi" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

"The Dinner" is not an Easy Story to Digest

[jtncsmistad · 8/10 · 4 September 2017]

I am a parent. Perhaps you are, as well. Can you even try to imagine the nightmare of your child taking part in a savagely inhuman and completely inexplicable act of violence? Me either. However, this is the devastating struggle inflicted on two upper class Italian couples and their desensitized, privileged kids in the searing drama "The Dinner".

The acting here is first-rate across the board. For my lira the husband and wife played by Luigi Lo Cascio and Giovanna Mezzogiorno (a dead ringer for American actress Debra Winger) and their son portrayed by Jacopo Olmo Antinori shine brightest in this story that is as wrenchingly hard to watch as it is to process.

"The Dinner" is the second of three films produced in a trio of different countries (Holland and The United States being the others) based on the novel by Dutch author Herman Koch. And for some reason it generally seems to be the lowest regarded of the group. I definitely intend to see the other two cinematic interpretations of Koch's book now.

Still, it is very hard to believe that I will find either one of them to be superior to this emotionally gripping stunner.

Suspenseful Italian Drama

[larrys3 · 7/10 · 13 September 2016]

I found a copy of this DVD at my local library and I'm glad I did, as I thought the movie was an intense and suspenseful drama that I liked quite a bit. It's well directed by Ivano de Matteo, who also co-wrote the script with Valentina Ferlan, and is based on the book by Herman Koch. I see there's going to be an American version of the film coming out next year, with a most talented all-star cast.

Here, this Italian drama centers on two well-to-do families, who are torn asunder when it's revealed that the teenage son of one family and the daughter of the other have committed a most heinous crime, Tension and suspense builds as the parents grapple with how to handle it all, and it didn't go the way I expected it to. It will all culminate in a most shocking finale.

Overall, the intrigue of this movie, which is well acted, written, and directed, kept me absorbed throughout, and you may very well find it to your liking.

Dirty linen at the dinner table

[gradyharp · 9/10 · 2 December 2015]

Ivano De Matteo wrote (with Valentina Ferlan) and directed this tough little film that takes a bit out of contemporary mores and serves is up as 'dinner'. It is classy in every aspect, the only exception being the crime that turns out to be the denouement of the story. It is a story about two brothers and their wives, and the interactions between them and their two high school age children. And the consequences that occur when the kids get into serious trouble together e manner in which the parents' relationships change with and among each other.

The well scripted synopsis states, 'THE DINNER turns an ordinary meal among family into a taut morality play as the limits of polite society are tested and two brothers discover just how little they know about each other. To Massimo (Alessandro Gassman), a gutsy defense attorney, the monthly dinners with his pediatrician brother Paolo (Luigi Lo Cascio) and their wives at a posh local restaurant are a status symbol, even if the time is spent in forced familiarity and inconsequential conversation about the latest films, the day's news or their children's schoolwork. When Paolo's wife Clara (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) sees disturbing security camera footage of a homeless woman being mercilessly beaten, she worries it may be her teenage son Michele (Jacopo Olmo Antipori) and his cousin, Massimo's daughter Benni (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers), who are responsible for the gruesome attack. Their fragile balancing act of respectability and class now shattered, the two families navigate the repercussions of this senseless assault, revealing in the process the skewed priorities and moral shortcomings of their privileged, insulated perspectives.

This is a film that is beautifully scripted and acted and offers a fine reminder of how fine Italian films can be.

Thought provoking film about where we really stand when disaster hits home

[cix_one · 10/10 · 10 October 2015]

The movie starts off with a seemingly cookie-cutter story that follows the contours of a narrative we encounter (too often, unfortunately) in the news. This includes a very questionable police shooting, which is probably more relevant for the States than it is for Italy, but the director uses it to bring the idea of the movie in sharp relief. The characters' positions relative to the tragedy that unfolds fall quickly into "traditional" discourse patterns: liberal/conservative, sleazy lawyer/kind doctor. The director manages to make this part of the movie not as trite as it could have been, but nonetheless the character development is very "expected". We (the audience) nod our collective heads knowingly as the action unfolds...

Little do we (the audience) know that the first part of the movie is just scaffolding for what happens next. A second tragedy enters the story. This time it's not just a news story that our characters happen to be professionally involved with at arm's length. It's much closer. For the audience, the two tragedies may feel equally distant (and that's the genius of this movie!) but for our characters the second one is very personal. The choices these characters make are unexpected and thought provoking.

The movie becomes a dissertation about where we *really* stand when the rubber meets the road. Talk is cheap, putting your money where your mouth is turns out to be a whole lot harder. The movie contrasts an emotional response to the world around us to a cold and calculated one, and the conclusions may be anything but traditional.

Interesting movie

[wmoscaduran · 8/10 · 24 July 2017]

This is a very interesting movie about two Italian brothers with their respective families who got involved in serious problem when their kids (a 16 years boy and a same age girl) apparently got involved in a crime. Each brother have a very different reaction and shows a very tense relationship between them. Each one of them have a different point of view of the meaning of success and have their own way to protect the people they care.Shows how teenagers can sometimes manipulate their parents and when they have money they think some other peoples lives don't really matters. The end of the movie is unexpected and overall is a very well acted movie. Has drama, suspense, good dialogues and a good job with the cameras. I definitely recommend it and planning to watch more movies from this director.

Blood Is Not Thicker Than Water.

[lasting1 · 8/10 · 19 January 2016]

This movie is about two diverse professional brothers who tolerate each other, but really never had a close relationship. They both lead posh lives with a monthly dinner reservation at an expensive restaurant.They really just go through the motions of tolerating, each others' company, and find that their wives and children are so out of touch with reality that their inability to love one another has transposed to their two teenage children. The boy & girl are so spoiled and entitled that any behavior is acceptable in their privileged lifestyle. The boy, son of the prominent physician is lazy and his lackluster personality is disturbing to watch. Unfortunately, the daughter of the other brother is a successful defense lawyer; and she is by far the most spoiled and deceitful of the two. She schemes a scenario about a vicious attack on a homeless woman after a drinking party that makes them murderers because of their callous, inept immorality. Both couples come to realize they've done a terrible job of raising their 16 year olds,but the dialogue with the two couples gets increasingly strained and bizarre as they try to come to terms with any remedy to change the outcome for their children's destiny. All four adults are in Crisis Mode and it's one disaster after another that clamours to the very end of the film. Very moving and thought provoking about the priorities of very successful people and how they navigate their transparent lives.

Like father, like son!

[gzchvtfkm · 9/10 · 12 May 2023]

I can understand parents natural urge to protect their children! Rich people usually find a way to avoid very bad penalty; besides the children involved are minors. But, the younger brother (doctor) killing his brother (lawyer) to avoid any penalty seems extreme. If he gets caught and finished, the reason he did it will come out and the children's deed exposed. Besides, I don't see how he can justify this in his mind without guilt. It will not help his son in the end, making killing someone because you are angry or to cover up a crime is a bad example to set. His son will probably do this again because he will no think, my father solved his perceived problem the same way. If the children had confessed, they probably what have gotten off lightly. And, the parents could have gotten them some professional help.

I thought the movie was excellent until the end. Of the three movie made from this story; I like this Italian one the best!

interesting conundrum

[ksf-2 · 8/10 · 4 January 2022]

The dinner 2014. The italian title is I nostri ragazzi. This is the italian version... although roku streaming channel has this listed as the dutch production from 2013. And there's also a U. S. produced version as well. They all have the same basic plot... couples get together to discuss a crime that their kids may or may not have committed. In this one, road rage leads to a shooting at a red light. The attorney defending the shooter is brother to the doctor operating on the son of the dead man. The brothers and their wives meet for dinner now and then. When they get together again, will they have the courage to talk about what their teenagers might have done? It's very well done. Some violence and swearing. Directed by ivano de matteo. Based on the novel by dutch writer herman koch.