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 (081926)
The Invite is a literate and sophisticated film that seems like it could become
a noir at any minute, but it always remains a tragic romantic drama. This film
was a big surprise hit at Cannes, where it received a standing ovation.
It was distributed by perhaps my favorite film production company, A24. Over the
last decade they have put out many of the best recent films, such as Moonlight
and The Lobster (2016),
The Souvenir and The Florida Project
(2017),
First Cow
(2019),
Everything Everywhere all at Once
(2022),
Sing Sing
(2024), as
well as a few occasional duds like Death of a Unicorn (2025).
The Invite was directed by the marvelously talented Olivia Wilde, who also plays
the film’s female lead; she also directed the fine cult hit Booksmart, as well
as the disappointing Don’t Worry Darling.
The other leads in the principal roles are also very good. Penelope Cruz is a great actress who mostly works
in other countries, especially Spain. Her best work is probably her many
collaborations with director Pedro Almodóvar, which include Everything About My
Mother (1999) and Parallel Mothers (2021). Ed Norton, of course, was in American
History X (1998) and Fight Club (1999), as well as The Incredible Hulk (2011).
Seth Rogen was in The 20-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up (2007), as well as
Pineapple Express (2008), as well as Spielberg’s The Fabelmans (2022).
The clever, witty script was co-written by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones.
McCormack got an Academy Award for his short film, If Anything Happens I Love
You. Jones who is an actress and film maker is probably best known for
long-acting stints in Boston Public (2000-2002), The Office (2006-9, 2011), and
Parks and Recreation (2009-2015), but she also had cameos in
The Social Network
(2010) She directed Quincy, a documentary about her real-life dad, Quincy Jones
that earned her an Emmy. In addition, she also starred in a Black Mirror winning
episode, Common People, for which she won an acting Emmy.
The film is a cinematic study of a relationship in crisis and seems to be aimed
at the same audience as the Zendaya
showcase, The Drama.
The Invite is a remake of a Spanish film based on a play; it features only four
characters and takes place in one room. This is the kind of film aimed at
intelligent adults that used to flock to arty A-list films like Who’s Afraid of
Virginia Woolf (1966), but now this type of film is mostly relegated to Indy
cinema.
The Invite opens with a quote from Oscar Wilde, “One should always be in love,
which is the reason one should never marry". The film centers on an encounter
between two very dissimilar couples, and the quote reflects their situation.
Joe (Seth Rogen) and Angela (Olivia Wilde) are a couple that has settled into a
miserable, passionless marriage, and they spend much of their time torturing
each other psychologically in a way only a couple can. Joe is a terminally
unhappy music professor who has long ago gave up his dream of playing
professionally. He is angry at his wife because while he has become almost completely
antisocial, she has the temerity to invite the upstairs couple down to
dinner. Joe sees himself as a failure, and he is not even proud of his luxurious
apartment because he has done nothing to earn it; it was a gift from his
deceased dad.
On the other side of the relationship, his wife, Angela, is very unhappy and passive-aggressive. Angela is a neglected
wife who pours all her energy and creativity into their house design, and the
visiting couple apparently appreciate it more than he does. The house is filled
with mirrors, and this is a good excuse to show multiple and even competing
images of the same characters.
Contrasting the couple are Hawk (Ed Norton) and Pena (Penelope Cruz), the upstairs neighbors.
They
are a younger, happy couple with a vibrant and exciting relationship. She is a
divorcee, and he is a recent widower. Pina (Cruz) is a sexologist and
psychotherapist, while her husband is a former firefighter. Joe is put off by
Hawk’s exaggerated politeness and diplomacy, thinking he is a phony. Both are
blissfully happy with their lives, a fact punctuated by their sex lives which is so loud and enthusiastic that they keep the
other couple awake at night. The upstairs couple practices polygamy, and they
have an interesting proposal for the older couple. But nothing goes as well as
it might.
The film does not have a totally satisfying conclusion so much as an ending,
which I
found it somewhat disappointing, but this might intentionally reflect the
characters' disappointment. But the first three-fourths of the film are
completely riveting, and very few current American films have dialogue this
sharp or characters this well developed.
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