FANTASIA 2020: Dinner In America
fantasiaComing off his bold and controversial directorial debut The Bunny Game, filmmaker, Adam Rehmeier is back with his sophomore feature Dinner in America. The story follows a young shy outcast named Patty (Emily Skeggs) who befriends Simon (Kyle Gallner), an on-the-run punk rocker. Simon teaches Patty how to stand up for herself while also laying low from the police. On paper, the film seems innocent enough until it actually starts. Despite the seemingly charming story, Dinner in America is an off-putting and bold film that will have some audience members coming along for the ride while others will be pushed to a distance.
The loud and in-your-face attitude the film takes is featured right from the start with the brash opening credits which jarringly interrupt the opening scene. Where the editing luckily quiets down, the film in its entirety does not. The screenplay feels gross and objectifying in plenty of ways. This ranges from characters using homophobic and racist language for shock value to the film exploring subjects such as mental disability for comedic effect. There is no doubt that Adam Rehmeier, the director, writer and editor of the film, was not conscious of its abhorrent nature.
Dinner in America consistently feels like it is missing the craft needed to achieve a film that is both distasteful yet engaging.. It is reasonable to put most of this on Adam Rehmeier's inexperience as a filmmaker with this only being his 2nd outing as a director and screenwriter and debut as an editor. Come future projects, Rehmeier has the potential to find the perfect balance between respect and shock when it comes to creating something truly special, but Dinner in America sadly wasn't that.
The performances, however, are impressive and genuine. For everything the film does that makes these characters and the world they live in unlikeable and harsh, Emily Skeggs and Kyle Gallner have undeniable chemistry. There is conversation to be had about Emily Skeggs’ portrayal of mental illness, particularly when the actress does not identify with this struggle. This is the same for Edward Norton’s role in Motherless Brooklyn. Yet Skeggs’ character is well-rounded and sweet, even if she is not completely innocent herself.
Where Patty is a ray of innocence, Simon is the opposite. Despite his heart of gold, Simon is often in contention with the law and those around him which is brought to life by the performance from Kyle Gallner. In the latter half of the film, when these two characters team up, their performances especially start to flow and the chemistry between them feels incredibly natural even if the dynamics were nothing revolutionary.
Similar to its characters, Dinner in America is a film with good intentions only to fall victim to the same ideals it is trying to use to stand out. It is a film that wants to emerge as a brash and loud story, one that is not afraid to push boundaries and eardrums, but clearly just doesn't have the craft needed to fully pull it off. Nothing within Dinner in America demands to be seen and the experience needed to get to the moments of genuine emotion sadly isn't worth the investment.
