Guess who’s coming to dinner?

In theatres now and arriving like a bolt of lightning this holiday weekend; The Invite is a glorious cry from the heavens that character driven originality more then has its place in the landscape of pre-existing intellectual properties and is yet another reminder that smart and funny can actually sell.

Joe and Angela’s (Seth Rogan and Olivia Wilde) marriage is on thin ice. However, one fateful evening when they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbors for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places. Have they reignited the spark or lit the match that burns it all down?

Ultimately, The Invite which is based on Spanish director Cesc Gay’s The People Upstairs has seemingly arrived in theatres exactly when it was needed as it brings fresh life into the theatrical experience that was feeling a little underwhelming and infected with a little malaise due to some tired IP and projects that studios have convinced themselves people want to see.

As great as everyone involved in this hilarious chamber piece is, this film shines thanks to its writing.  The duo of Will McCormack and Rashida Jones who gave the world the criminally underrated Celeste & Jesse Forever deliver a cracker jack of a script here that never lets up as the evening unfolds.  As they layer dialogue, story elements and character nuance in every page, this is the kind of movie that has you on the edge of your seat, even though we never leave the apartment.  We believe the banter from minute one, and when things get crazier we as an audience can’t help but lean even harder.  This is one of those experiences that awards audiences for paying attention and it thrives thanks to some excellent direction.

While Olivia Wilde’s previous directorial effort; Don’t Worry Darling had its obvious flaws, it was never for a second…boring.  She takes those lessons and applies them with aplomb here on her 3^rd feature.  Boiling it down to the one back drop of the apartment, she makes it look like a multi layered maze as the story continues to unfold.  Nothing feels forced and it all plays like an effortless dance as the motivations of each character comes to light.

It was a brave move here for Wilde to both act and direct, but she does a wonderful job as the world weary housewife trying to find some adventure in a life that has gotten a little too predictable.  The chemistry she has with Seth Rogan here is palpable and they bounce off of each other immaculately, one trying to maintain the illusion of a healthy relationship and the other just tired of the façade of a life that he feels he has settled on far too easily.

Therein lies the other side of this equation, as good as Wilde and Rogan are bouncing off of each other, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton are basically doing the best work they’ve done in recent memory as the enigmatic upstairs neighbours.  Particularly Cruz as the more liberated Piña does wonders as the spark that lights this powder keg of relationship dynamics and Edward Norton gets to flash some mildly clueless charm that allows for what is ultimately a frank and refreshing examination of relationship politics between two couples one that is deemed to be deviant and weird that is actually healthy and the perceived one that is broken beyond belief.

What The Invite manages to say…and say exceptionally well I might add is that when a relationship has run its course, it’s important to recognize it because it opens the door to not only new possibilities but it allows for all involved to see a way to redefine what was, into something better.