Years ago, I staggered1 out of Mad Max Fury Road, going, ‘How did they do that?’
I feel the same way now with The Invite. There are no flaming guitars and death-defying wire stunts here, though. Instead, it’s how did they write a script so funny and sharp and then direct the hell out of it so much that a four-person gab fest is one of the best films I’ve seen this year.
Not just good, but good in a way that, almost from the start, you can’t look away. You gasp and laugh and wait to see what unforgettable thing will get said next.
It’s gobsmacking.
Could this be a play? Sure, but it’s cinema all the way down. Music, and editing, and a collusion of actors to make it all move with a wonderful, unbreakable pace.
Does Olivia Wilde keep looking at the camera like Jim from The Office? Yes. But it’s still funny.
The funny works all the way through. The drama at the end felt a little too tacked on. The morning after a hangover following a wild night.
While I may not have loved it, it still felt true.
At one point, Seth Rogan shouts, “Can’t you just let me be miserable!” And as a happily married man of nearly 20 years now, I felt that in my bones.
It’s early, of course, but I certainly hope Olivia Wilde gets a directing nomination. I think this is probably the easy winner for writing. How could it not be?
Seth Rogan works hard, man, or he’s always working, or maybe he just insists upon himself. But whatever you think of him, he is exceptional here.
This is one of the best movies of the year.
- Other movies I staggered out of: Braveheart, Casino, and Fargo. ↩︎
Dark Highways 