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Diner

EMAILPRINTMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Diner reviews
86
N/A User Score:

Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Barry Levinson

Directed by: Barry Levinson

Release Date:
Theatrical: March 5, 1982
DVD: April 4, 1999

Running Time: 110 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R

Starring Steve Guttenberg, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon, Ellen Barkin, and Paul Reiser

A group of 20-somethings work on what they should do in the future while hanging out at a Baltimore diner in 1959.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)

Diner is an often hilarious, frequently touching film.

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90

Chicago Reader Dave Kehr

Levinson's dialogue feels fresh and improvised, yet it hits its mark every time, and the performances he gets are complex and original (particularly from Mickey Rourke, who plays a lothario with a late-blooming conscience) - enough so that Levinson's occasional forced "cinematic" effects cause barely a ripple in the smooth, naturalistic surface.

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90

The New York Times Janet Maslin

Diner isn't lavish or long, but it's the sort of small, honest, entertaining movie that should never go out of style, even in an age of sequels and extravaganzas.

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90

Time Richard Corliss

The film is wonderfully cast and played, right down to the bit player (Ralph Tabakin) who shops suspiciously for a TV set: "I saw Bananzo and it was not for me."

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88

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Diner is often a very funny movie, although I laughed most freely not at the sexual pranks but at the movie's accurate ear, as it reproduced dialogue with great comic accuracy.

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88

Boston Globe Bruce McCabe

Barry Levinson's Diner is an extremely clever, slick male fantasy that takes some time to work out its mood and tone but ultimately blossoms into a moving film. [16 Apr 1982]

88

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jay Scott

A serious and funny and subtle work - a work of art - that was easy to confuse with exploitation teeny-bopper quickies because it did what the quickies had tried to do. But Diner did it right. [22 Apr 1982]

80

Empire Staff (Not Credited)

Levinson’s self-penned 1982 directorial debut and the first of his “Baltimore films” is a disarming reminiscence on buddydom.

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70

Variety Staff (Not Credited)

Steve Guttenberg, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon, Paul Reiser and Timothy Daly are terrific as the friends as are Ellen Barkin and Kathryn Dowling as the two females involved with different group members.

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63

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

This is Hollywood's most mature treatment of the '50s-nostalgia theme so far, and the most accurate.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 0.0 (out of 10) based on 0 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

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