Dinner With Friends Details

Moonstruck director Norman Jewison trades subtle observations for ham-fisted showiness in this made-for-cable adaptation of a Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Applying over simplistic rationale to the idiosyncrasies of human relationships, he ploughs into the intimate nitty-gritty of romance and betrayal like an intrusive voyeur. Yet, while drawing in viewers, Jewison's technique offers no insightful revelations. Instead, this emotionally hollow melodrama throws up cliché after cliché, as idyllic couple Dennis Quaid and Andie MacDowell find their friends' divorce threatening their own perfect marriage. Though at times some of the dialogue does ring painfully true, verbose tirades and overtly theatrical performances make it difficult to empathise with the characters and their fates.