So, I just watched a small, overlooked, and poorly-reviewed movie for 2017 called Table 19, and I liked it a lot.
It's kind of a rom-com, but just a little. Mostly, it's in the genre with Grand Hotel, Stagecoach, and Lifeboat - and The Breakfast Club. You know, a disparate group of people, who would otherwise not find themselves associated, are thrown together in unusual circumstances and Things Happen. In this case, the unusual circumstance is created by all the characters having been seated at the least appealing, least involved table at a wedding reception, based on their relationship - or lack of it - with the bride and groom. Nonetheless, they manage to connect and help each other with their struggles.
While the movie wears a lot of the traditional rom-com trappings, it manages to subvert many of them in some surprising ways. Characters that you think are cardboard cutouts have a little more complexity than expected, and meet-cute doesn't lead where you expect it to. While it could have been even edgier, it has enough grit to distinguish it from the pack for me.
Th performances are excellent - Anna Kendrick is always fun to watch, and Lisa Kudrow gets better every time I see her. Steven Merchant puts a spin on his gentle giant shtick that is quite affecting, and 89-year-old June Squibb was a delight. Drama, wry humor, and just a bit of slapstick - the cast delivers it all.
The movie starts with very little backstory, and drops us right into the reception from the get-go, letting us discover the characters as the evening progresses, and only gives the briefest of codas. In fact, the first half is so tight that I thought the film might have been adapted from a stage play, but that is not the case. The setting does broaden out midstream, but the film never loses its focus on the table group.
If you've got an hour and a half to spare some night, check this hidden gem out.
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