The Invite, a film that appears to occur in real time based around a dinner party, comes from a pedigree that would include the plays of Yasmin Reza, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, even My Dinner with Andre. There’s a notable theatrical bent to this sub-genre, which requires a polished script and actors who are capable of carrying it off. In all of this The Invitation hits the mark. However, this is also a marriage therapy film, more in line with something from Bergman. Unhappy couple have to confront marital demons and either sink or swim. There might be something smug about Wilde’s comedic interrogation of marriage, but on the other hand, just because the film is coddled in a kind of North American cocoon (money no problem, the outside world kept happily at bay) doesn’t mean it isn’t done with a certain flair and also - every society has the right to poke fun at itself and in the same week I watched a remarkably po-faced Hollywood film, at least The Invitation couldn’t be called that.
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