Take 79: The Invite
In the dramady The Invite, Olivia Wilde (who also directs) and Seth Rogan are Angela and Joe, a married couple whose marriage is, to put it mildly, going through a major slump. Joe feels blindsided when he returns from his day job as a music teacher to the news that Angela has invited the neighbors, Pina (Penelope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton). The dinner party quickly devolves into a night of awkwardness, chaos, and revelations.
Due to another busy weekend involving travel, I pretty much had to settle on this because it was pretty much the only thing playing that would fit my schedule. When I say I knew NOTHING going in, I mean NOTHING. I decided to allow myself pure ignorance and walk in cold.
What a pleasant surprise.
Eight people are listed in the credits, but I am almost positive none of them speak and don’t make it past the opening establishing sequences. This movie focuses on the four, the two couples and all of the action takes place in one location.
I’d say I am a Seth Rogan fan. A lot of the characters he tends to play ate variations of this character Joe here. Somewhat grumpy/stuffy everyman. The marriage is troubled and it’s easy to see where he might be at least at fault, but even still, your not not rooting for him at any time in the move buvr at the same tome, you wanna slap him upside the head and get him to do better.
Olivia Wilde I don’t know as well but she is really good here. She has a facade of competence and at first, you think Angela has it together a bit more than Joe, but eventually she conveys this might not be the case. Typically, the wife can come across as a bit overbearing, the nag, but again, she plays it in such a way that the audience can be equally on her side. And Wilde directed this too!.
Penelope Cruz as Pina makes for an interesting foil. She often squares off against Joe in a way thatis very different from the way than Angela and she challenges his character in different ways. Plus, it’s Penelope Cruz. The woman hasn’t aged and just brings the sexiness that her character needs. Seeing her here really makes me want to go back and see more because, as extensive as her filmography is, I haven’t seen enough of her.
Rounding out the quartet is Ed Norton in a role I’m really not used to seeing him. Here is is Pina’s husband so he has to have level of sexiness to make the pairing believable and it definitely works. I felt as though his character might have had the least to do, until the end anywhere where he gets to shine a bit but still, never has as much weight as the rest but he is still a vital part of the plot and delivers.
From start to finish, I was in! I got this couple instantly. I consider myself a bit of a empath, so when it gets awkward, the feeling is visceral for me. The writing is quick and smart. There are jokes a’plenty and they all land. The ending was a little open to interpretation and appreciated it here.There are also surprises so I am avoiding spoilers and pretty much rapping it up now.
I really dug this one. No notes. It checked just about all of my boxes. Highly recommended and would absolutely watch it again!
My score: 9.6
I am sending out an invite of my own: leave a comment! And what’s this.. my spider-tingle is going off. Until next time…
