Ever since ‘Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice’ walk inside that Las Vegas hotel room for 1969, filmmakers don dey vex about wetin go happen when straight-laced couples dey play with libertinism and each other.
Last summer ‘Splitsville’ na the funniest movie nobody see, an expertly engineered farce wey four old friends implode over idea of open marriage, get plenty comic mileage from people wey pretend to be cool with things wey dem never really cool with.
E be leagues more inspired than ‘The Overnight,’ Patrick Brice dreary 2015 wife-swapping comedy wey Jason Schwartzman and Judith Godrèche swingers teach Adam Scott stuffy suburbanite how to stop worrying and love im micropenis.
‘The Overnight’ na one of those Sundance sensations wey everybody dey talk about during festival and then nobody ever mention again. I don check the title for purpose of writing this review.
Director Olivia Wilde ‘The Invite’ don fare better post-Park City this year, one of the only Sundance premieres to emerge with any buzz from the beleaguered festival.
Part of that na sheer star power. Wilde and Seth Rogen star as miserable millennial couple wey get noisy older neighbors (Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz) over for dinner party wey erupt into chaos after unexpected proposition.
If e dey feel like people no go stop making this same movie over and over again, na because for this case e be literally true. ‘The Invite’ dey based on Cesc Gay stage play ‘The People Upstairs,’ wey don already adapt into films for Spain, Italy, Switzerland, France and South Korea. Clearly, the concept dey travel well.
Working from screenplay by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones (yes, that Rashida Jones), Wilde set her version for San Francisco Bay Area. The film take place entirely inside tony apartment wey Rogen frustrated music professor for never fit afford if e no inherit am.
He and Wilde don just finish extensive renovations, though for note of eye-rolling symbolism, she still yet to decide wetin color she want their bedroom to be. She don invite the neighbors over partly as apology for all the racket.
But noise na touchy subject for this building, since crabby Rogen really want confront the people upstairs because e dey tired to dey keep awake at night by the sounds of their passionate lovemaking.
‘The Invite’ begin for frenzy of party preparations, with all sorts of shouty close-ups, jagged cuts and musical score with stabbier strings than ‘Psycho.’ As filmmaker, Wilde get tendency to lay things on too thick.
Her overbearing 2019 directorial debut ‘Booksmart’ no fit get joke off without elbowing you for ribs and repeating the punchline, and there’s something initially off-putting about this movie borderline mania.
Luckily, things dey cool out upon arrival of Norton and Cruz, with Wilde pulling the camera back into wider shots and allowing her actors to steer the scenes. ‘The Invite’ become more of theatrical piece, letting the laughs emerge from interplay between the performers rather than trying to impose dem on the material.
Most of the comedy come from tension between the free-spirited, easygoing neighbors and their uptight younger counterparts. E be generational divide wey you no see addressed much for film and television, where typically older folks dey present as prigs wey no fit handle the candor of rebellious youth.
As aging Gen Xer, I dey thrilled to see movie about how these days e feel like the opposite be true, expressly calling out millennials for being annoying little prudes.
Casting ’90s movie icons Norton and Cruz na exceptionally savvy coup, bringing the baggage of ‘Fight Club’ and transgressive Almodóvar films into this stolid apartment while Rogen harumphs about decorum and Wilde character fret over being perceived as properly progressive.
There’s great gag about her trying to impress Cruz with culturally inclusive snacks wey also be nod to the Spanish actress’ 1992 breakthrough ‘Jamón Jamón.’
Norton dey absurdly good for the picture, finding keen balance between im ‘aw shucks’ affability and prickly, passive-aggressive edge e flick like switchblade while winding up Rogen. The actor don dey on real roll lately.
Im heartbreaking performance as Pete Seeger for ‘A Complete Unknown’ blow Timothée Chalamet more ballyhooed Bob Dylan impression out of the water, and here e run circles around Rogen, who no fit find second gear for im petulantly unhappy husband.
Rogen na such canny Hollywood operator, I feel like we dey doomed to spend decades watching am bang im head against im actorly limitations. E go be the weak link for countless prestige projects just because executives love am and e dey good for the room.
Wilde performance overdo e a bit with the bumbling, horny googly-eyes, but I suppose e be appropriate response to Cruz casual sophistication and serene sex appeal.
There’s about 40-minute stretch for the middle where ‘The Invite’ really cook, bouncing provocations off revelations with the grace of great bedroom farce.
Watching the picture for closing night of this year Independent Film Festival Boston, I dey remind once again of how spiritually nourishing e fit be to sit with 400 other people wey all dey laugh their heads off.
For some insane reason, movie studios don decide wey comedies go straight to streaming these days, as if laughing alone for your apartment be any substitute for communal goodwill of howling along with room full of strangers.
‘The Invite’ dey rejuvenating. Well, e dey for a while, anyway. The problem be say the movie no content to just be hilarious, an ambition wey don doom many great clowns.
After bringing the house down, ‘The Invite’ take misguided turn into drama, turning into group therapy session for characters wey no well-drawn enough to support the transition.
E dey obvious say this subject matter dey personal for Wilde, whose marriage to TV star Jason Sudeikis collapse for embarrassingly public fashion few years ago. The ensuing tabloid meltdown kneecap the release of her sophomore directorial effort ‘Don’t Worry Darling,’ a dire PR cycle make even more problematic by the fact say the movie no be any good.
‘The Invite’ dey clearly design to be both her riposte and redemption. After the IFFBoston screening, Wilde appear onstage with real-life relationship counselor, and the two of dem proceed to psychoanalyze the movie characters as if dem be real people. E be one of the most stultifying post-film presentations I ever see.
This na where my penchant for sitting for front row work against me, because there’s no way to get up and leave without making big show of e. I sure Wilde mean well and want inspire discussions about the emotional issues raise for the movie, but she don already dey do that during the film earlier, funnier scenes.
‘The Invite’ now dey for theaters.
