S06E03: Dinner With Friends
We went into Dinner With Friends expecting a filmed TED Talk on the Rashomon of a disintegrating marriage; instead, we got the American Kennel Club metaphor wheel, disproportionate anger about balsamic vinegar, and a surprising argument in favor of casting Andie MacDowell -- AND Dennis Quaid, who turns in a pretty Quaidy performance either despite or because of Remy McSwain blocking. We had our issues with the 2001 TV movie (Quaid as a food writer who can't pronounce "pomodoro," for one; the dearth of car talk after a dinner-party meltdown, for another) and we didn't agree on Quaid's spectacles, but at the end of 94 minutes, the cumulative effect of stagey construction, Steve Winwood, and good-faith revelations was positive. Fix yourself a rum and tonic and pick a vegetable: it's the latest Quaid In Full.
Overall score: 7.25
QQQ score: 7.5
Days since a lost Kuffs accident: 98
SHOW NOTES
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Can YOU get past the first 27 seconds of The Dennissance? (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dennissance/id1503394153)
USA Today's review (https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/enter/tv/2001-08-10-dinner-with-friends.htm)
Variety's review (https://variety.com/2001/tv/reviews/dinner-with-friends-4-1200469558/)
Ruth Reichl on the doomed prospects of the Gourmet website (https://www.eater.com/2019/3/29/18285307/ruth-reichl-memoir-save-me-the-plums-excerpt-gourmet-website)
