The Dinner

Annoyingly this is not perfect. I say annoyingly because it could have been. When focusing on Coogan and Gere's fraternal relationship or when at the dinner table, it is engrossing - you do not want to miss a word. The script, in particular the dialogue, in these scenes is spry and unpredictable. But when it moves away to set up back story, it loses an edge - the teen scenes are quite dull, and there needn't be so many scenes about Coogan's history of mental health. I loved the way it weaves from flashback to present but it happens all too much, enough to almost question the film's title. The main performers are great. Coogan and Hall are superb, but I couldn't help be distracted by Coogan's American accent. It is accomplished but just feels out of place - he could have just used his English accent! Gere does "the Gere" as only he can - reliably cool. All in all it is a very good film, but a few times I was a little confused as to the family structure. For example, who is Beau and why does Gere care about him so much? He is a black child, but there are no black parents seen in the film. This could have been better explained.

I am now very cautious of the original Dutch film, Het Diner. Has anyone seen it....stuffp perhaps?

B+

I didn't read beyond my name and the first line of your review, but I haven't seen nor heard of the original Dutch film before. I did find out that was based on a Dutch book again actually. The Dutch film didn't seem to have received much good reviews, most classifying it as average. I'm a bit interest in this English adaption (Gere usually always bring it), but currently it's low on my list.

That is not what I am seeing. The Hollywood Reporter's Dutch film critic prefers the original to this one.

Ah ok, well he could just be a chauvinist. But anyway, it seems the book is great and neither the Dutch or English film adaption have been able to capitalize on it.

Why would he be a chauvinist?

Because he's Dutch and he prefer the Dutch film which generally didn't seem well received either. He might genuinely think it's better, I haven't seen any of these films, but I'm thus a bit reserved about his preference among those films.

Hmm. Interesting. I have never known chauvinism to mean patriotism. I always linked it to being gender specific, such as a misogynist.

I think it is that as you say, but I've always heard it within different contexts too, and this google definition pretty much sums it up:
excessive or prejudiced loyalty or support for one's own cause, group, or gender.

Which also bring me to the point where I think very often people just throw around the word racist to someone while in fact that person is just being chauvinistic.