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An Exquisite Meal
USA 2020
produced by Josh Itzkowitz for Objay Dart Films, Unfurnished Films
directed by Robert Bruce Carter
starring Mike Jimerson, Amrita Dhaliwal, Victoria Nugent, Ross Magyar, Mark Pracht, Emily Marso, Bassam Abdelfattah, Siddhartha Rajan, Luke Johnson
written by Robert Bruce Carter, music by Jessica Jarvis
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Dave (Mike Jimerson) and Irene (Amrita Dhaliwal) have invited some of
their friends for dinner, not so much out of love and respect but because
Dave is a wannabe chef and wants to bathe in the adoration of his peers,
all wannabe-intellectuals like himself and Irene. Thing is, things get
quickly a bit awkward with even their besties Mark (Ross Magyar) and Beth
(Victoria Nugent) once Dave runs out of things to say about the food he's
preparing, which he has chosen an extra long name and description for to
kill as much time as possible. But thing get even more awkward when Paul
(Mark Pracht), an electrician with no pseudo-intellectual aspirations,
crashes the party, claiming to be Annie's (Emily Marso) friend, though his
motives might be more sinister - and it becomes clear when Annie, an
instructor from Yogi Without Borders, arrives that she hasn't the
first idea who he might be. Another surprise guest, Edouard (Bassam
Abdelfattah), a philosophy professor from France, is more than welcome
though as he gives the shallow small talk at the dinner table some mock
depth. The whole gettogether is interrupted though when a man (Siddhartha
Rajan) is run over in front of the house, and the little dinner party
debates whether or not to call the authorities instead of trying to help
him. Also Mark and Beth's marital problems come more and more to the fore,
Edouard proves to have more ulterior motives than just talking hot air,
all the while dinner just failing to get ready, and Dave gets more and
more irritated every time he's asked about it while him playing with his
knife looks more and more menacing. And on top of that, where has Paul
suddenly disappeared to? Now this film might not be for
everybody, as it is mean-spirited on one hand with no clear good guys in
its cast of characters, on the other refuses to explain everything away so
to not subvert audience expectations - and these are exactly the reasons
why An Exquisite Meal is also lots of fun, it's a biting satire on
wannabe-intellectualism and pretensions of the upper middle class that
almost naturally shows some parallels to Luís Bunuel's The Discreet
Charm of the Bourgeoisie almost naturally, if only in theme and irony,
not in style of approach. And that the film goes visceral eventually and
in a slightly random way even only contributes to the movie's attraction.
And an able cast who play it straight manage to really ground the movie
and help making it into one darkly enjoyable and entertaining piece of
cinema.
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