Diner

Diner

1982

Director: Barry Levinson

Writer: Barry Levinson

110 Minutes

How can you even explain the brilliance of this movie…?

The greatness behind Diner is Barry Levinson. Pulling from his childhood experiences growing up in Baltimore, he created a cast of characters probably much like his own friends, family, and lovers. Married, single, troubled, confused, or immature, Levinson brought us the Baltimorean World circa 1959 in the most entertaining way.

The story is about teenagers becoming adults, taking responsibility, making choices, and eventually finding who they really are. That’s why we see coming-of-age films – to find out who these boys are, but more importantly who we are.

We’ve all been through periods of confusing in our lives, facing difficult questions, and unanswerable situations. This helps us escape those problems in a relatable way. And even though time may change, problems between friends usually don’t.

In the scene above, Eddie (Steven Guttenberg) and Shrevie (Daniel Stern) are talking outside the diner about marriage. Eddie is getting married, while Shrevie has been married. When Eddie asks about Shrevie’s marriage, he replies with this:

“When you're dating, everything is talking about sex. Where can we do it? Why can't we do it? Are you parents gonna be out so we can do it? Everything is always talkin about getting sex, and then planning the wedding, all the details. But then, when you get married... it's crazy, i dunno. You can get it whenever you want it. You wake up in the morning and she's there. You come home from work and she's there. So all that sex planning talk is over with. And so is the wedding planning talk cause you're already married. So... ya know…I can come down here and we can bullshit the entire night away but I cannot hold a 5 minute conversation with Beth. I mean it's not her fault, I'm not blaming her, she's great... It's just, we got nothing to talk about... But it's good, it's good”

Plus, Beth (Ellen Barkin), Shrevie’s wife, doesn’t know about the flip side of records, yet the topic is all too important to her husband.

See, that’s important to guys: flip sides of records. There is also movie quotes, video game conquests, and busting each other’s balls. And that’s why Diner is a wonderful film because it’s a movie for guys that deal with guy’s important issues.

Like flip sides of records.

In the end, the movie comes out well. Eddie gets married. Shrevie appreciates his wife. And Mickey Rourke falls off the planet until The Wrestler. Then Iron Man 2.

But, we’ll always have the Diner.