Dinner In America (2020) Right from the start, this unfolds like standard indie-film boilerplate......
Simon, a raging, anarchic punk rocker (Kyle Gallner) rampages through seedy suburban households like a human torch.....literally. After he's done groping either the family's mother or daughter, he makes his escape leaving the saps facing, just like Johnny Cash, a burning ring of fire.....via a gasoline container from their garage.
A third of the way into this rebel-without-clue yada-yada, Simon's latest excursion into a house full of middle-class morons puts him in the path of their daughter Patty.......and here's where the film started to become worth watching till the end.
Patty's played by young New York stage actress Emily Skeggs and to say she steals the movie and makes it her very own is an understatement. She's a born showstopper whom you can't take your eyes off of.
Looking and sounding like one of Sally Field's leftover repressed personalities from "Sybil", Skeggs's Patty is a 20-something who still lives at home under the thumb of her overly protective parents, who treat her like 10 year old. She's barely holding on to a dead end job and spends her time tormented, intimidated and belittled by everyone around her - her own family ("You need to take it down a notch, Patty!" is their mantra if she dares defying them) and former high school classmates, who continue to bully her without mercy.
Into her fractured, sad world comes Simon, who unbeknownst to Patty, is the lead angry screamer of her favorite punk rock band.....(where he performs in a secret identity ski mask.). And yes, as you've already figured out, Simon's towering fury at everybody and everything around him (including his own band) serves to crack Emily's impenetrable shell......and bring out a vibrant, gifted, kickass young woman who still remaining adorably sweet.at her core.
At that point, the film becomes an all-too-standard lovers'-on-the-lam story, but with the enormous bonus of using Skeggs as its MVP. While Simon, who never changes, faces his inevitable fate, the fun here comes from watching Skeggs take Patty on a character arc from imprisoned wallflower to a creative firecracker......(and established in the final scene as a fierce force to be reckoned with......and not likely to ever again take it down a notch....)
Really nothing new here, but we highly recommend taking in a viewing of it anyway.......we're happy not to have missed out on a star-in-the-making performance by Ms. Skeggs......and can't wait to see what she turns up in next. 3 stars (***).
(Our only warning......she's quite a lovely singer too and you may never get her rendition of her weird, funny "Watermelon" song out of your head......)
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