Tangled storytelling in ‘The Dinner’ works against itself

Published 1:30 am Friday, May 5, 2017

Tonight’s courses will include locally-sourced organic carrots with balsamic glaze, line-caught steelhead and Bananas Foster. Side dishes include guilt, hatred and moral evasion.

“The Dinner” is an ambitious but overly busy look at an ethical crisis that comes after a lifetime of family tensions — and it all gets sorted out over a long dinner at a high-toned restaurant.

Paul (Steve Coogan) is a hand-wringing intellectual and sometime teacher. He’s always resented his older brother Stan (Richard Gere), a congressman, and dreads going out to dine at Stan’s invitation. Apparently Stan wants to talk about something important.

But Paul’s wife Claire (Laura Linney) insists they go. Stan arrives with his youthful second wife Katelyn (Rebecca Hall, late of “Christine”), his celebrity presence peppered with countless interruptions from phone calls and fellow diners.

In a way, the whole movie is a little like that: It’s constantly interrupting itself for flashbacks, revelations, and news about what’s going on with Paul and Claire’s teenage son (Charlie Plummer).

The soundtrack is the same: a series of background songs, half-heard, accompanied by the annoying beeping of text messages searching for connection. “The Dinner” is anxiety-producing, as much because of its style as its subject matter, teasing us with hints until the truth beneath the evening becomes clear.

I assume director Oren Moverman is doing this deliberately. He’s bringing to life a chaotic world in which the center no longer holds, in which good, privileged people are capable of the most awful things. Moverman, who did the intense “Rampart,” adapted Herman Koch’s novel (in a bit of unwanted publicity, the author has expressed disapproval of the movie).

Intriguing stuff, but the tangled storytelling works against itself. “The Dinner” is unbalanced, for one thing. Coogan, the gifted British comedian, is trapped in a toneless American accent here, and the film spends too much of its time on his backstory. A very good Gere is barely in the first hour, and while both actresses are fierce, they have limited screen time.

More damagingly, Moverman wields a heavy hand when telling us what he thinks about society and his characters. Paul and Stan have an extended flashback to a visit to Gettysburg battlefield, apparently so Moverman can nudge us about divisions in society and family. Because it’s a “civil war,” see.

This is a movie that spells everything out the same way the waiter exhaustively describes the cheese plate at the end of the meal. Moverman has talent and ideas, but perhaps he needs to trust them — or his audience — more.

“The Dinner” (2 stars)

Two resentful brothers (Steve Coogan, Richard Gere) and their wives (Laura Linney, Rebecca Hall) have a long dinner, during which past trauma and current crises come to the surface. Intriguing set-up, but director Oren Moverman’s approach is heavy-handed, and the movie is anxiety-producing in its jittery storytelling style.

Rating: R, for language, subject matter

Showing: Alderwood Mall, Meridian, Oak Tree, Sundance Cinemas