Barry Levinson's 1982 dramedy about six Baltimore buddies coming to grips with adulthood in the late '50s owes its inspiration to Federico Fellini’s 1953 classic "I Vitelloni." Kevin Bacon, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke, Steve Guttenberg, Tim Daly, and Paul Reiser play a group of twentysomething American man-boys who fill their aimless days acting out immature ideas of what it means to be men.
A diner on the outskirts of Baltimore is their late-night refuge where they freely interact with one another over plates of greasy food and endless cups of coffee.
Fen (Bacon) disguises his superior IQ with vandalism and pranks. His joyful grin could break into tears at any moment. Shrevie (Stern) is the most mature of the lot, if only because he lives a married life to Ellen Barkin's Beth. Still, Shrevie puts the importance of his record collection above that of his wife. He's got a lot to learn. They all do. Mickey Rourke's roguish Boogie is a womanizing hairdresser with a gambling habit that threatens to put him in a hospital, or worse.
Eddie (Steve Guttenberg) is on the verge of marrying a girl who must first pass an impossibly loaded oral exam on football trivia if the marriage is to proceed. Modell (Reiser) is a study in passive aggression. Finally, there's Tim Daly's preppy character Billy, whose all-American good looks enable his pained relationship with Barbara (Kathryn Dowling), a career-minded girl working in television production. Barbara is out of Tim’s league, and she knows it.
Levinson employs a disarming brand of naturalism to mask the liberties he takes with creating a fantasy version of '50s existence. "Diner" is every bit as exaggerated as George Lucas’s "American Graffiti," but in less obvious ways. Music plays just as important a part in establishing the mindset of its characters. Clarence Henry's "Ain't Got No Home" gets an energetic rendering as accompanied by Daniel Stern's character. Jimmy Reed's unmistakable "Take Out Some Insurance" also figures prominently in underscoring a need for greater household stability in a bankrupt American Dream that came crashing down with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
This self-reflecting movie carries a theme of equanimity between its economically and religiously varied characters. Although the subject is never directly addressed, we witness Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant friends concerned more with their similarities than their differences. In this way, "Diner" is instructive without being preachy. It entertains without pandering to its audience.
As confused as its young male protagonists are about their proper place in the world, it's their relationship to women that beguiles them most, and yet offers the most satisfying salvation for these lost young men. Women are their only hope for their eccentric paths to maturity.
Rated R. 110 mins.
