The evening went from cordial to odd to bizarre for me. I was brought as a guest to a dinner party, unfamiliar with the couple who were the hosts. Their place was cool looking with a mixture of furnishings from the past several decades. Each room had one wall painted for the color theme of the room; accompanied by matching accents that gave each space its own dramatic flair. The conversation was lively right from the start; however, since I did not know this couple I could not tell if some of the things they were saying were supposed to be a joke. I had to take my cues from the surrounding guests. When dinner was ready we all sat around an oval dining table that was perched on a carved wooded pedestal. It gave the appearance of a wide tree. During the meal there were times where the topic of conversation would veer off into areas that I had a hard time following what the hosts were trying to say. In addition I found some of the things they were saying were not appropriate. Unfortunately the food only added to my discomfort; some things were undercooked in my opinion, besides having a taste that I could not tell was due to spices or spoilage. I know it was a tough spot to be in because there was no way I, who was essentially a stranger to the hosts, was going to say anything. So my time sitting at the dining room table was made up of nodding my head, smiling and picking at my food carefully. I do not know what I would have done if I were with the two couples in this movie.    NEWLY transplanted couple Alex and Emily, played by Adam Scott (Friends with Kids, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) and Taylor Schilling (The Lucky One, Orange is the New Black-TV), felt they were making their very first friendship in their new city when Kurt, played by Jason Schwartzman (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Listen Up Philip), invited them to come over for dinner and meet his wife Charlotte, played by Judith Godreche (Stoker, The Man in the Iron Mask). It would be a dinner they would never forget. This film festival nominated comedy had some great dialog in the script. There were parts of this movie where I could relate to what the characters were feeling; but other times I sat in my seat in disbelief. The actors did a good job with their characters, even with the uneven script. I appreciated the fact the writers tried to put a different spin on a story that easily could be found in a comedy show on cable television. It was not fair that I got to experience some of the actors’ emotions in the scenes but did not get to have any of the food.

2 3/4 stars