Dinner in America – Cinema Journal

A punk with the police hot on their heels and a nerdy misfit fall in love with each other, and exactly where they end up in the film, everything falls into place around them.

The title can do the umpteenth food movie wait, but dinner in america veers off in a completely different direction – a nihilistic coming-of-age love story, something like that. Yet the film is well and truly structured in four meals. The first and the last take place in institutions, with unsightly substances served in these metal plates. The middle two meals are sumptuous family dinners in sweltering suburbs.

Simon (Kyle Gallner), who goes by John Q. Public as the frontman of his punk band, knows very well where he feels most at home. Not at the table with the family. Well seated for your own mum and dad or that of a friend? I prefer to have everything on hand.

Simon’s nihilistic attitude determines the energy of the first act of dinner in america. It’s compelling, but it also puts you off as a viewer. That changes when he meets Patty (Emily Skeggs). At school, he would probably have ignored her or even bullied her, but there are complications that connect their lives. It turns out they both light up – like yin and yang, opposites that need each other to stay afloat. Or maybe he’s the rhythm and she’s the melody. From there, the film takes off, with an infectious mix of punk nihilism and boyish innocence.

Those who want to get in the mood can head to various channels for ‘Watermelon’, the song director Adam Rehmeier and lead actress Skeggs made especially for the film. The pop punk stunner is an earwig of oodles. If you like the energy of this song, you’ve come to the right place. dinner in america.