Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Diner Blu-ray Movie Review

Not Much Happens; Life Goes On

Reviewed by Michael Reuben February 2, 2015

MGM didn't want to release Barry Levinson's debut film, Diner, because, as one executive said, "It's no Porky's!" The exec was right about the nature of the film, but when a flood of favorable reviews, including a rave from The New Yorker's Pauline Kael, shamed the studio into putting the film before the public, the marketing department did their best to make the film look like another sexy teenage romp. The trailer included on this Blu-ray release labors to disguise the diner of the title as a perpetual party, with music, strippers and non-stop dancing.

Diner, of course, is something else entirely, which is why it succeeded at the box office in 1982 and has retained a loyal following ever since. An episodic period piece set in 1959, it captures a group of young men and their relationships so vividly that male viewers routinely identify with one character or another. Women may not identify with the characters, but they've dated or married them, and they can appreciate the accuracy of the portrayals.

Levinson, who also wrote the script, cast Diner with largely unknown actors, all of whom went on to greater success. He made the cast spend time together in Baltimore before filming so that they would develop a familiarity that carried over to the screen. When tempers flared during filming, he ordered them to inhabit what was christened "the Camaraderie Camper" until they'd ironed out their differences. Even though Diner was Levinson's first film, he already understood that casting was the most important part of his job. Especially for a film where so much of the action occurs in subtext, in the sense of shared history that informs otherwise mundane exchanges about simple things like finishing a sandwich, it's the looks, the pauses, the indefinable atmosphere that make Diner a unique experience.

The film takes place in 1959 between Christmas and New Year's Eve. The setting is Baltimore, and the diner of the title is the Fell's Point Diner, which has been the regular hangout of a group of six friends since childhood. If there's an event toward which the story gradually builds, it's the wedding of Eddie (Steve Guttenberg) to Elyse (Sharon Ziman, whose face is never seen), which will be held at year-end, if—but only if—Elyse passes a rigorous football quiz designed by Eddie with contributions from family members. The fact that everyone involved, including Elyse and her mother, takes this requirement seriously tells you a lot about the world of Diner. So does Eddie's affectionately combative relationship with his mother (Jessica James), who can't wait to get her son, whom she describes as "such a thing", out of her house. (It's obvious that she'll miss him terribly the minute he leaves.)

Shrevie (Daniel Stern), who works in his family's appliance store, is the only member of the group who is already married, to his high-school sweetheart named Beth (Ellen Barkin). Marriage is proving to be an adjustment for both of them. One of Diner's most revealing scenes occurs early in the film when Shrevie tells Eddie about his experience of married life so far. Another occurs later, when Shrevie and Beth have a ferocious argument over Shrevie's record collection, which is as sacred to him as the Blu-ray, slipcover and steelbook collections amassed by many devoted afficionados at Blu-ray.com. The scene is both very funny and deeply sad, because it reveals how little the couple has in common beyond the sexual attraction that initially drew them together.

Billy (Tim Daly) has returned home from graduate school for the festivities. In addition to seeing the old gang, he has unfinished business with a some-time girlfriend, Barbara (Kathryn Dowling). As yet another friend prepares to tie the knot, Billy feels pressure to settle down, and there are additional pressures in the wake of Barbara's recent trip to visit him at school. But Barbara isn't interested in marriage, at least not to Billy. She doesn't love him and doesn't believe he loves her. Barbara is the closest that Diner comes to a contemporary female character; she even has a career, working in the control booth at a local TV station.

Fenwick (Kevin Bacon), a/k/a Timothy Fenwick, Jr., is the joker and perpetual screw-up of the group. A rich kid with a successful older brother and a trust fund, Fenwick hides his native intelligence behind an affectation of stupidity. In any situation, it will be Fenwick who pushes the limits, whether it's in consumption of alcohol, driving too fast or risking arrest. Fenwick is the type whose behavior spawns legends. Frequently, though, guys like him don't survive long enough to enjoy them.

Modell (Paul Reiser) is the group's mooch. He prompts the conversation about finishing a sandwich noted above, and he always needs a ride. Like any incessant borrower, Modell covers for his cadging with a steady stream of patter that is so entertaining his friends can't help but love him. (Levinson quickly learned that he had to keep a tight rein on Reiser, who was the best improviser of the group and could steal any scene if given a chance).

The group's big brother is Boogie (Mickey Rourke), hairdresser by day and law student by night. A ladies man who used to date Beth (among many others), Boogie might actually make something of himself if a serious gambling habit didn't constantly have him hiding from bookies. He spends much of Diner trying to evade Tank (John Aquino) to whom he owes $2000, and he knows he should take the advice of his late father's friend, "Bagel" (Michael Tucker), a regular at the diner, who keeps telling him to quit placing bets. But Boogie loves the action. One of Diner's many subplots is his series of bets with his buddies over what sexual favors he can inveigle from local ice queen Carol Heathrow (Colette Blonigan). For verification, Fenwick plans to hide in a closet and watch—a classic example of how the guys of Diner may be men chronologically, but inside they're still just boys.

Levinson came from a background in sketch comedy, writing for The Carol Burnett Show, then working with Mel Brooks on Silent Movie and High Anxiety (in which he memorably appeared as a crazed bellboy). Many of the scenes in Diner reflect a comic's skill at turning a phrase, but Levinson always resists the temptation to write punchlines. Instead, he skews the scenes toward letting the characters reveal themselves through the familiar rhythms of their routine interactions at a crucial time in their lives. The realization is slowly dawning—on some more than others, but on all of them together—that yes, indeed, their adult lives have really started. All the waiting is over, and for better or worse, this is how life is going to be. No doubt one of the reasons why MGM executives didn't "get" the film is that Levinson didn't try to make a traditional "coming of age" story. There are no grand revelations and, with one possible exception, no one's life is changed. No title cards appear at the end telling us where everyone ended up (as in, e.g., American Graffiti). Diner simply draws us completely into this world where friends are still most comfortable with the guys they've always known, and everyone else, including girls, is a little bit suspect. We spend two hours among them and leave feeling that we know them too. That's a neat trick for a first-time director and a cast of unknowns.

Diner Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Diner was shot by Peter Sova, who would go on to shoot Tin Men and Good Morning, Vietnam for Levinson and more recently shot The Strangers. The film is part of the MGM library now owned by Warner. I cannot say whether Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray was derived from a new transfer, but I suspect it will be controversial, because Diner has a soft, period look and much of the film has pronounced grain, especially in darker sequences. If one understands that this is the nature of the source, then the Blu-ray image is satisfyingly film-like and nicely reproduces the style of Sova's photography. Within the glow of nostalgia cast over everything, substantial detail of Fifties clothing, decor and automobiles is readily discernible, and the colors have a rich warmth that often suggests old photographs, although some sequences (e.g., in the strip club) feature intensely saturated hues. Significant portions of Diner are set at night, and the blacks and shades of black are well-differentiated. The film grain moves in natural patterns, and no artificial sharpening appears to have been applied.

The real question is whether Diner could look even better. In what may be the most egregious demonstration of Warner Home Video's bizarre approach to compression, the studio has placed Diner on a BD-50, of which only 24 GB have been used. The average bitrate of 24.47 Mbps falls in the usually modest range where WHV typically aims, but why should it do so? In order to hit that rate so reliably, compressionists often have to filter high frequencies, which means losing fine detail, but it's clearly not necessary to do so when nearly half the available space on the disc remains. We'll never know how much detail was or wasn't sacrificed in Diner's image by WHV's arbitrary compression, but the studio could take a lesson from its colleagues over at the Warner Archive Collection. They use all of the digital real estate available on a Blu-ray disc; their bitrates are routinely higher than WHV's, and there's never any doubt that WAC is delivering the best quality possible.

Diner Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Diner's original mono soundtrack is encoded in lossless DTS-HD MA 1.0, and it sounds remarkably good. The dynamic range is wide, the dialogue is clear, and the wonderful soundtrack, which is dominated by period singles, has a remarkably good presence, even though it only comes from one channel. The additional underscoring is credited to Bruce Brody and Ivan Král, but let's face it—the music you remember from Diner are songs like "Ain't Got No Home", "Beyond the Sea", "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", "Teenager in Love" and many more. You also should recall the all-important question repeatedly posed in the film, which is . . . Sinatra or Mathis?

Diner Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The extras have been ported over from Warner's 2004 DVD of Diner, except that the DVD lists two trailers, while the Blu-ray has only one.

• Introduction by Barry Levinson (480i; 1.33:1; 1:14): The introduction also includes comments from cast members, all of which are obviously excerpts from the interviews done for the "Flip Side" documentary listed below.



• Diner: On the Flip Side (480i; 1.33:1; 30:34): This 2000 retrospective documentary includes interviews with Levinson, Barkin, Guttenberg, Stern, Bacon, Reiser and Daly. Each of them was interviewed separately. Collectively, their comments provide an informative overview of the film's production and its unlikely path to success.



• Theatrical Trailer (480i; 1.85:1, enhanced; 2:17).

Diner Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Probably the reason why WHV has decided to release Diner at this time is because of the musical version currently wending its way toward Broadway with a script by Levinson and music and lyrics by Sheryl Crow. The setting, the period and the characters are rich with possibilities, and the musical has been widely anticipated. In the meantime, Levinson's original film remains as fresh and effective today as when it first appeared. Despite WHV's parsimonious bitrate, the technical presentation is good enough to allow an enjoyable viewing experience. Highly recommended.