'Melvin Goes to Dinner'
Dinner Table Discussions Have Never Been So Interesting
Gissela
Austin360
Wed., March 12, 2003
I have a confession to make: When I walked into the
Paramount Theater on Wednesday to see "Melvin Goes to
Dinner" I wasn't all that thrilled. I sarcastically
thought to myself, "Four strangers sitting around the
table talking about nothing. This should be a winner."
You can imagine how surprised I was to find that, as with
many other audience members, "Melvin" turned out to be
one of my favorite SXSW features.
Yes. It is what I thought it was going to be: a group
of people who one way or another have mutual friends,
talking over dinner and wine about everything from
religion to sex. But what I didn't expect was how
interestingly the conversations would be presented. Unexpected twists
and funny cameo appearances spice up what could have been drab.
Director Bob Odenkirk transfers Michael Blieden's
screenplay about nothing, into something fascinating on
screen. But it is the performances by the cast that
makes "Melvin" a gem. The acting is so smooth and
flawless that you feel like a fly on a wall eaves
dropping on their conversations.
It's no wonder 'Melvin Goes to Dinner' garnered the
SXSW Narrative Feature Audience Award.
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