The Spanish movie Sentimental, written by Cesc Gay and adapted from his play, has been remade in several languages. It’s easy to see the appeal of a grown-up chamber drama about a couple who call their neighbours over for dinner, only to be served their own shredded marriage on a platter.
The latest adaptation is the English-language The Invite, directed by and starring Olivia Wilde alongside Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton. The 107-minute film is an invitation to salacious squabbling and unpalatable but necessary truths about relationships.
Joe (Rogen), a one-hit-wonder musician, and Angela (Wilde), his stay-at-home wife, argue rather than communicate with each other. Joe is bothered about the rude sounds emanating from the apartment above. Lo and behold, Joe arrives home to learn that Angela has invited the uninhibited couple responsible for the disturbances over.
Pina (Cruz) and Hawk (Norton) aren’t just firmly unmarried. They have a sangfroid that exacerbates the tension that exists between Angela and Joe. The dinner turns into a counselling-and-confession session. Secrets are spilt. Discoveries are made.
Adapted by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones, The Invite has no shortage of bilious barbs, some of which are hard to catch because of the overlapping dialogue. The behaviour ranges from passive-aggressive to outright aggressive. The dinner comes to resemble a crime scene in which nobody dies but everyone is bruised.
Shadows of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Woody Allen’s comedies and European relationship films hang over the gorgeous apartment. Did we spot a reference to Howard Hawks’ screwball comedies somewhere in the rat-a-tat exchanges?
The Invite is brutally funny and painfully honest at times, especially about sex, but sentimental too. While entertaining in the moment, The Invite lacks the staying power of, say, Roman Polanski’s Carnage, also about the jangly encounter between two couples.
The segue into therapy undermines the film’s willingness to confront the pitfalls of marriage, Angela and Joe run out of ways to insult each other. The film too runs out of breath.
Seth Rogen is the most valuable player here, memorably capturing Joe’s sense of disappointment and willingness to be enchanted by the bohemian Pina. Olivia Wilde and Penelope Cruz bring, respectively, American neurosis and Mediterranean cool to the situation.
Edward Norton sadly has the weakest material to work with. The Invite leaves this great actor out of the party.
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