Some movies, you can just tell they are based on a play. I'm thinking of “12 Angry Men” or “Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?” “The Invite” is one of those. It's based on a Spanish film, which is based on a Spanish play, which has already been adapted into movies in France, Italy, Switzerland, and South Korea, and now Olivia Wilde brings us an American version.
San Franciscans Joe (Seth Rogen) and Angela (Olivia Wilde) are a bickering married couple sharing a fancy, newly-renovated apartment. Joe, a frustrated musician who now teaches music, arrives home exhausted to learn that Angela has invited the couple upstairs for dinner. Up till now, their only interaction with Hawk (Ed Norton) and Pina (Penelope Cruz) has been brief greetings in the elevator and hearing their loud sexual escapades through the ceiling.
Joe is really not up for dinner guests, but the invite has already been made. Hawk and Pina arrive, and thus begins an evening of revelations for both couples, some titillating and some heartbreaking.
The obvious comparison is “Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?” I haven't seen the 1966 film starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, but I have seen a stage production. It's a harrowing tale of a dysfunctional marriage, and not completely easy to watch. “The Invite” can be a bit of a roller-coaster as well, but I would say it goes down easier. There's enough humor throughout to lighten the mood when it needs it, and you generally come away from this one feeling less wrecked than I did after “Virginia Wolfe”. Still, “The Invite” is intense, and I would not think this would be a good date night movie if your marriage is going through a rocky patch.
3 stars out of 5
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