ada the leading man is my tpye

Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

stephenlovelette You gotta love a movie that holds up.Not much needs to be said.Written and directed by Barry Levinson, nominated for Best Screenplay and set in Baltimore 1959.I'll try not to spoil anything, because if you like movies and haven't seen this gem, you must catch it soon. It's funny, poignant and has a spectacular cast.I can't get enough of Paul Reiser's character, Modell. Good Golly he's funny.Discussing the concept of evolution, Reiser speaks one of my favorite lines, "The guy who makes up this stuff it's the stupidest thing I've ever heard - people do not come from swamps. They come from Europe."This line comes from potentially the best post-movie credit sequence I've ever seen (or rather, heard). It's a philosophical comedic audio layover, a bonus diner conversation; an adequate apology for the abrupt freeze-frame ending.I love how Reiser's constantly hassling Steve Guttenberg's character for rides. They're all such close friends, Reiser manages to never actually ask for the lift, he always gets The Gute to offer.A young Mickey Rourke is almost unrecognizable in this film. And he delivers a spectacular performance.Daniel Stern's character is also great, now that I think about it. You know him from Home Alone. His character is such a well-meaning fella. When he argues with his wife over his records, you don't know who to root for, and it'll set your heart-strings aquiver.It can get dusty at times.Stern also has a great moment with Guttenberg, when he explains that getting married doesn't necessarily make life any easier.Kevin Bacon's character is, as always, excellently executed. He is like a tightly wound spring, but worth much more than first appears.The minor character who memorizes the lines from "Sweet Smell of Success," cracks me up every time he interrupts a conversation.I'm not sure if women will enjoy this film as much as men. The themes seem very masculine; they reflect the subtleties of my interactions with my male friends. I'd be interested to hear if women feel like they really connect with certain aspects of the movie.One might say Diner is misogynistic.I say, "Feh!"One could argue that the pacing is slow at the beginning, but personally, I won't do so.The only criticism I can muster is about the moment of most tension, the pinnacle of the film's conflict. It gets resolved in such a quick fashion it might make your head tilt.Otherwise, this is a spectacular film.As always, don't expect too much, and you'll be oh-so-sweetly rewarded.

p-stepien The everyday life of six friends concentrically focuses around a diner - in some manner symbolising a sense of nonfluctuating stability, whilst everything else around them changes: marriage, children, work and ideals. Eddie (Steve Guttenberg) is on the verge of getting hitched, laden with certain doubts about his choice. Shrevie (Daniel Stern), the only married man among the bunch, is a musical geek happily wed to Beth (Ellen Barkin). Boogie (Mickey Rourke) represents the opposite, a free spirit with a weakness for gambling and women, studying law only to impress the ladies. Similarly Timothy Fenwick Jr. (Kevin Bacon) lives recklessly and aimlessly - despite belonging to a wealthy and influential family he spends his time disconnected from them and slacking it off in his Porsche. Billy (Tim Daly) seems to be the groups father figure, rational and always controlled. That is until he platonic friend declares she is pregnant with his child after a single night of madness. The sixth of the pack is Modell (Paul Reiser), whose seemingly only role is to make up the numbers.Through this loquacious picture haplessly concentrating key events around a diner slash meeting place of choice for six best friends we venture into the feeling of a time and place, one so internally American than it fails to strike a cord with overseas audience. Mischievous and at times subversively funny the end result is however tailor-made for local audiences, who can fully appreciate the backyard amiability of the witty gang. Not to say this is a bad thing - some things aren't meant to have global appeal and within its target it is undoubtedly an intriguing gem, one still influential for buddy or verbose flicks and also a point of reference for such movies as "Before Sunrise" or "Smoke".Talkative and largely improvised features tirades by great actors, whose magnetic presence captivates, especially when talking about Bacon or Rourke. Despite however my best intentions I found myself unable to relate to the characters and their all-American traits.

edwagreen I was extremely disappointed in this coming of age film set in 1959 Baltimore, Maryland.As far as I was concerned, the guys were quite immature. Going through with a marriage based on the fact whether or not the bride-to-be passes a test about football is as ridiculous as can be. Coming of age or not, mature couples don't do things like this and marriage is a serious institution. With attitudes like this, is it any wonder that the divorce rate is constantly increasing?I saw a complete lack of maturity of those who are supposedly law students.A foolish, inane movie. Nice to see Mickey Rourke 30 years ago. He looked real nice. The booze and drugs have really taken their toll.

dataconflossmoor-1 Who realized that back in 1982, a film like "Diner" would possess such an extraordinary wealth of talent, both on and off the screen. What was emphasized by this film's director, (Barry Levenson) was the impetuousness with which this movie's actors and actresses had to orchestrate. So often, during the film's production, Barry did not even say "ACTION" to commence a scene. So many times, would Levenson omit the word "CUT" for a scene to conclude. All of these non conventional actions by director, Barry Levenson,were for purposes of manufacturing a tertiary spontaneity from the actors in the movie. Such an auspicious lack of inhibition sparked a natural emotional realism that made the film "Diner" truly unique! Many scenes brought on a free spirited innocence that prevailed back in Baltimore in 1959 (The city and the year that this film was suppose to take place). "The Popcorn Scene" with Mickey Rourke was hysterically funny, as it is indicative of the sordid wiles men will engage in to get the attention of a beautiful woman, especially if it for purposes of impressing his close knit buddies!! "The Piano Scene" was one of the best scenes in any movie I have seen whatsoever!! Tim Daly's piano playing was a mandatory form of entertainment to break up the sedentary monotony of an ossified nightclub! The type of character Steve Guttenberg played was one which was very identifiable to me. I saw myself in Steve Guttenburg's character so many times in the movie, but, particularly in the "Piano Scene". I could envision myself dancing recklessly in dare devil fashion while wearing Shetland wool! This was so Steve Guttenberg's character, and, it was so much like something I might do as well!! This film focused on the bittersweet scenario, pertaining to the peculiar viewpoint by some barely adult men, who had a penchant for believing that an individual's sense of humor should be his single most coveted attribute in the world. Such a mindset purveys the ground-rules of survival being a case of how a human being's sense of humor should be endless, because his egregious flaws as an individual are endless as well!! "Diner" accentuated the necessary dichotomy between social cohesiveness and individuality! Ultimately, the film would bridge the gap with precocious candor. This itemization of quirky concepts accomplished a successfully ambiguous cultural dissemination of adolescent ideas with all the main characters of this movie. The incongruity contained in the conversations with everybody became a capriciously acute element to this film which successfully evoked a superbly unprecedented directorial finesse!! "Diner" did not win the academy award for best movie in 1982. When a movie wins an Oscar for best picture during any given year, it is usually a very good film. When a film manifests a fondness for individual expression by establishing a reality on how people truly are by what they find amusing, with that, emanates the real definition of a comedy. If a movie can accomplish such a feat, then this is an undeniably great film. Without question, the film "Diner' is a movie that may be put into this category!! A bevy of talented people partook in this movie. This box office bonanza of stars comprises of; Mickey Rourke, Steve Guttenberg, Tim Daly, Ellen Barkin, Daniel Stern, Kevin Bacon, and Paul Reiser. (Reiser's curiosity with the term, nuance, in this movie, later surfaced itself to reality by way of a production company which was entitled "Nuance Productions" that Paul Reiser was part owner of). Given the fact that so many actors, actresses, directors and producers have 30,000 square foot domiciles in Beverly Hills and on Park Avenue, it becomes rather obvious that money is not always a top priority with them. Ultimately, they realize that the purpose for making a movie is to raise the bar on entertainment standards. This encapsulation concerning man's sanguine flippancy about perpetual failure, which this film, "Diner" illustrated, was totally astounding! More specifically put, an integral facet of movie entertainment is predicated on accurately pinpointing what human nature is truly like. Often times, I have thought that if you only want to see two movies in your entire life, those two films should be "Glengarry Glen Ross" and "Diner". Both movies capture a grass roots recognition of what people's attitudes and instinctive reactions really are. I would give the nod to "Diner" over "Glengarry Glen Ross" because "Diner" illustrates a realism which is portrayed with a far more positive disposition! Such a reality gives "Diner" an enthusiastic identifiability. Attaining a stranglehold on the positive elements of human intuition in a movie like "Diner" is a goal that is so crucial to a film! So much so, that if a director does this, but, he does not win an Oscar for his film, his response should be "SO WHAT!!" The movie "Diner" is a one of a kind gem! "Diner" has achieved the ultimate accolade of being a movie which ignites a humanistic gratification to a near perfect state! This film has artistically conquered an elementary objective for making a movie! Such an accomplishment is what film making is all about, to which, I have only one thing to say, "An Oscar!! What's that?"