It’s a four-way sex comedy of embarrassment, as if J.B. Priestley had written a play about swinging. But this not only confuses, but also intrigues, amuses and, finally, somehow bizarrely touches.
Middle-class married life is satirized through images of two couples having a torturous dinner party. A failed musician and his wife, played by Seth Rogen and Olivia Wilde (who also directs), invite their stylish neighbors, a therapist and former firefighter, played by Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton, to the title. Rogen is the first among equals in this cast, the ironic insider-outsider, constantly undermining the growing absurdity of the situation with knowing jokes or cries of incredulous outrage and employing that unmistakable come on, come on, come on laughter.
Screenwriters Will McCormack and Rashida Jones clearly have fun crafting each of Rogen’s funny punchlines, and without Rogen to ventilate the film’s atmosphere, the proceedings might feel oppressively artificial and translated. It’s actually adapted from the Spanish film “The People at the Top” directed by Cesc Gay, which was originally a stage play (and there was already a Korean remake of the original film).
Rogen is Joe, a guy who used to play in the band Onslaught and now got a job teaching music at a small liberal arts college and living in his late parents’ apartment. He suffers from depression and psychosomatic back pain, although the couple’s 12-year-old daughter (off-screen) is practically the only bright spot in his life. Angela (Wilde) has prepared an elaborate casual evening for her super-cool neighbors Piña (Cruz) and Hawk (Norton), much to the embarrassed indignation of grumpy Joe. Angela’s official goal is to apologize for the noise she and Joe made during the recent renovation, but Joe is now, in his topsy-turvy way, intent on inviting Pina and Hawk to make their own apologies for keeping him up with their inattentive, noisy, uninhibited sex.
It is the topic of sex that should direct the conversation in an unexpected direction. Cruise and Norton have fun showing how intimidatingly, effortlessly bohemian and progressive Pigna and Hawk are; they have an intolerable habit of switching to Spanish in the presence of their owners, a habit, of course, rude, but always making them look incredibly cosmopolitan and polite. While Pina and Hawk are serenely unflappable and incredibly confident, poor Angela and Joe are sweaty and tense, bitter and irritated at how limited they are made to feel. The stage is undoubtedly set for a terrible clash of cultures. However, that’s not exactly what’s happening.
In some ways it’s a loud, grumpy, over-caffeinated movie; it takes a while to settle down, and actually begins with almost every line of dialogue abruptly intercut with the musical score, an oppressive manner that thankfully doesn’t last long. It’s certainly broad, stagey and contrived, and the mood swings are almost dinner theater-like in their suddenness – but Rogen’s comedic background means the sheer outrageousness of the twists and turns is enjoyable.
“The Invitation” is reminiscent of Roman Polanski’s 2011 “Four Hands Massacre,” adapted from the play by Yasmina Reza, as well as Francis Weber’s play and film “Dinner of the Cons,” remade as “Dinner for Assholes” with Steve Carell. Perhaps there is something about the bourgeoisie’s embarrassment at dinner that has a certain export appeal. “The Invitation” is funny… and Rogen is at his best.
Invite is available now in the US, July 3 in the UK and July 9 in Australia.