Diner (1982)
Directed by Barry Levinson
Set in 1959, Diner shows how five young men resist their adulthood and seek refuge in their beloved Diner. The mundane, childish, and titillating details of their lives are shared. But the golden moments pass, and the men shoulder their responsibilities, leaving the Diner behind.
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What critics compared Diner to
At its best "Don't Think Twice," valentine on one side, cautionary tale on the other, harkens to some unexpected films not explicitly about improv comedy — Paul Mazursky's "Next Stop, Greenwich Village," or Barry Levinson's "Diner" — but very much in the improv spirit, about dreamers living in what Stephen Colbert refers to as a "humorocracy."
The group's chemistry evokes the best sad-sack male bonding tales of Barry Levinson (" Diner ," " Tin Men "), and the performances are all superb, particularly Frost, who steals the film with an explosive physicality that's John Goodmanesque.
But he never said we couldn't call it Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets Diner, so there you go.
It generally takes about 20 years for filmmakers to start looking back at a particular decade, such as the 1950s with American Graffiti in 1973, 1960s with Diner in 1982, 1970s with Dazed and Confused in 1993, and the 1980s with multiple properties in the 2000s.
"ATL" is refreshing without going all goody two-shoe, its four friends and their ties to Atlanta not unlike the bunch of guys in Barry Levinson's Baltimore "Diner."
In their confusion over leaving one part of their life to move on to an uncertain future, they could be the kids in "American Graffiti" or "Diner."
At its best the film is reminiscent of early Jonathan Demme and Barry Levinson’s workplace comedies like Diner and Tin Men.
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(There is one affectionate moment between Seth and Evan in a sleeping bag that suggests a suburban "Y Tu Mama Tambien," and one disagreement between them evokes the wounded spats in Barry Levinson's "Diner.")
The tone is sometimes reminiscent of the one struck by Barry Levinson in his memory films (“Diner,” “Tin Men,” “Avalon”), with Gray, in this case, trying to present his experience of growing up in as genuine a way as possible, as if he were ripping pages from his diary.
Broadly, this is a coming-of-age movie in the Diner mold: Trier tracks Phillip and Erik and a few of their pals as they stagger into a world that can’t be attuned to their (male adolescent) expectationsespecially in regard to women.
Slightly less cinematically obsessive viewers, however, might see this as a fairly arty, literary, more sensitive punk rock take on “Diner” and possibly even “ Swingers ,” with a generous de-heroined dash of “Trainspotting” and a gimmick or two on loan from “ Run, Lola, Run .”
The talk doesn’t reach the levels of Barry Levinson’s Diner (what does?) but it’s pungent and often double-edged.
This is a movie in the spirit of Federico Fellini’s I Vitelloni or Barry Levinson’s Diner – a witty and affecting drama about young bucks out to have as much fun as possible and who are so busy trying to enjoy themselves that they don’t even realise that they are at a pivotal moment in their lives, on the cusp of adulthood.
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Long ago, Levinson established his career exploring the personal journeys of blue-collar Baltimore denizens in such films as “ Diner ,” “ Avalon ” and “ Liberty Heights .”
Though perhaps best known as the director of Rain Man and Diner, Levinson has never been one to shy away from genre entertainment, whipping out films like Disclosure, Young Sherlock Holmes and Sphere betwixt more well regarded films like Avalon and Wag the Dog, albeit with mixed success.
Then it was Jaws; now it is The Bay. Director Barry Levinson (Diner, Rain Man) has done everything in his career bar eco-horror; now he ticks that box.
Director Barry Levinson returns to his native Maryland for “The Bay,” which unfortunately is not part of the delightful series of autobiographical films he began with “Diner.”
A change of pace is what he must have been looking for, and, save for a return to his old Maryland stomping ground much like his "Baltimore" trilogy?1982's "Diner," 1990's "Avalon," and 1999's "Liberty Heights"?"The…
The veteran director of such earnest endeavors as Rain Man, Diner, Bugsy and Sleepers has always entertained a lighter streak.
But Levinson ("Diner," "Rain Man"), somehow topping the lameness of his 1998 bomb, "Sphere," wastes them all with lazy, uninspired direction and an unimaginative screenplay by Harley Peyton, which rips off elements of "Bonnie and Clyde," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "Dog Day Afternoon."
Director Barry Levinson, known for his notable Baltimore-based movies such as "Diner" and "Avalon", looses the whimsy and finds the flimsy in the dreadful comedy crime caper "Bandits", a disjointed and woefully pared-down buddy-buddy road flick that amuses itself in self-deprecating fashion.
Director Barry Levinson (Diner) gives the film a loose, improvisional feel, which works when Thornton rattles off a bunch of loopy phobias his character suffers from, but grates whenever Blanchett goes into shrieky sidekick mode.
Barry Levinson (Diner, Tin Men) is a skilled comedy director, but his effort here feels a bit different from his previous work, with faster pacing and an edgier style.
Levinson used to be a decent director ("Diner," "Tin Men," "Rain Man," "Bugsy"), but recently he's been all over the map, quality-wise, with as many uncomfortable shifts in genre in the last ten years ("Jimmy Hollywood," "Sleepers," "Sphere," "An Everlasting Piece") as Leelee Sobieksi has had openings in the last ten days.
From "Diner" to "Wag the Dog," his pictures are packed with enjoyably idiosyncratic characters, every one of them a frolicsome horse of a different color that from their opening scenes feel like friends (even the amoral ones).
Except for "Bugsy," which had an old-style Hollywood sheen, Levinson's best work ("Diner," "Wag the Dog") has an improvisational comic looseness.
As long as Levinson sticks to easygoing interaction à la Diner, Sphere is amusing enough.
The cleverly directed family drama by Barry Levinson ("Diner"/"Wag The Dog"/"Liberty Heights") won an Oscar for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay (Ronald Bass & Barry Morrow) and Best Actor (Dustin Hoffman).
The direct approach of the director, Barry Levinson ("Good Morning, Vietnam," "The Natural," "Tin Men," "Diner"), and the superlative performances of his stars, Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, help the material here rise far above melodrama, making "Rain Man" a knockout film.
Las Vegas aside, the film is an odd, dry odyssey, kept deliberately unsentimental by director Levinson ("Diner," "Tin Men") by writers Ronald Bass ("Gardens of Stone") and Barry Morrow (TV's "Bill: On His Own") and, in particular, by Hoffman's spare, poetic performance.
Levinson made two great comedies, "Diner" and "Tin Men," before phoning in the abysmal "Young Sherlock Holmes" and garnering undeserved glory -- courtesy of Robert Redford and Robin Williams -- for "The Natural" and "Good Morning, Vietnam."
Here's Mickey Rourke in Baltimore, talking with Kevin Bacon in “ Diner .”
Favreau, who co-produced and wrote the screenplay, manages to touch on Tarantino, as well as Martin Scorsese's "GoodFellas" and Barry Levinson's "Diner," which this delightful, but ultra low-budget comedy (which was produced for much less than $1 million) is actually closest to in tone.