Direction: Adam Rehmeier
Country: USA
The L.A.-based writer-director Adam Rehmeier does a great job in Dinner in America, a riotous farce with provocative dialogues, a dead pan sense of humor, and a fierce instinct to be repulsive. His wry, character-conscious direction is efficient, and his screenplay shows a persistent fondness for odd characters and dysfunctional families.
The story, set in Michigan, makes the most of an explosive connection between Simon (Kyle Gallner), a broke, scheming, pyromaniacal punk rocker and drug dealer, and Patty (Emily Skeggs), a slow, clumsy and bullied college dropout who is employed at a local pet store. Although they don’t seem to have anything in common with the exception of their musical tastes, a strange love is on their way, which will give a bit more meaning to their lonely existences.
Rehmeier coaxes silver-bullet performances from the leads (the supporting cast is also impressive) and fires up this caustic punk love story with fun surprises and impish mischievousness. That sheer sense of savage nature we all know is further enlivened by a few hilarious strokes of madness and anarchy. It’s not a big surprise that this anti-hero ride is more attitude than substance, and yet that attitude creates sparks of energy that makes us have a great time.
Punk rebellion reigns here, and you better be prepared for some quite nasty scenes. Definitely not for all audiences but with a guaranteed audience niche for itself.
