‘Dinner In America’ Review
A Compelling Story of Finding Intimate Redemption Through the Most Rebellious Act — Love
image courtesy of Hulu
Dinner In America is a sincere music-backed romance, lead by actors who truly understood their roles, and a director (Adam Rehmeier) who didn't compromise on anything.
When the story is exceptional yet comforting like a dream that actually has confluence, and the delivery is so rooted in reality, there are no boxes left to tick. The result is a beautifully packed love letter to music and finding your people, as well as an illustration of how love can overthrow those boundaries that we never wanted in the first place.
Set against a bland Midwest backdrop, Dinner in America tells a rich and raucous story through the lens of two misfits on opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. Penny (Emily Skeggs) , seemingly naive and soft-spoken, is secretly blossoming through punk and the urges of adolescence. Simon (Kyle Gallner), on the other hand, embodies every cliché of a vagabond archetype — loud, volatile, impulsive — and yet, he’s much more than that first impression.
The story brings them together in a series of actions-meet-consequences type crescendos, in a romantic, serendipitous and cinematically enticing way.
Dinner in America deals with tropes that are often illustrated in movies: teenage angst and rebellion, finding belonging in music, sexual exploration and lawlessness. Yet it carries these with so much authentic magic and an unadulterated love for the craft of cinema. And rather healthily, it still allows for enough distance for the viewer to relate without feeling like they need to agree with everything the characters do.
The film perfectly illustrates how the small things are indeed - the big things. The landscape is weaved masterfully without demanding that the viewer works hard to keep up. Where many films over-explain or force redemption, Dinner in America simply shows and trusts the audience.
Even when the characters’ actions cross lines, the camera keeps a distance. It doesn’t excuse them, but it doesn’t condemn them either. It just asks: Can you witness people learning how to be?
In this observant yet rogue fashion, we receive a subtle yet permeating message - real intimacy is a matchstick flame that can warm two people through an ice age. Only a fervent heart can convey such a raw story without making it too sweet and unpalatable.
Sure, much can be said about the 'antisocial' behaviours of Patty and Simon but even a loosely attuned person will be able to observe that rebellion is not a whim here, it’s a response to an environment that discourages individuality.
The reason a lot of us relate to this is because we may have also wanted to burn something or punch the popular kid. But for most of us - socialisation's sinister rule over our psyche was stronger. So we live it out through our records and screens, through movies like Dinner in America — stories that tell us it’s okay to have been angry, to want more, to have coped however we could.
Much has been criticized in this film — violence, sex, drug use, disobedience — with some claiming it glamorizes destructive tendencies. But that misses the point. What the film elevates is not destruction, but love. Love as something fiery yet gentle. What Dinner in America glamorizes is the connection between these seemingly opposing attributes through the courage to show up as your full, messy self and be seen.
This anger and desire for more authenticity are a sign of a bleeding heart. The ways we cope are often such that they may not be the best for us in the long run, but they do allow for the flames to not consume us - at least for now.
So we get to vicariously live it through our records and speakers, and through movies like Dinner in America who confirm that one can be innocently hearted and still lash out and be bold.
Because ultimately, we don’t have to be an expert in love to practice it. After all, love is elusive and gentle at its best. And as the Tao says - soft always overcomes hard. This is the kind of film that can melt a hardening heart, and it sure did mine.
