If you’re looking for a raunchy, uncomfortable comedy with a solid emotional heart to it, you’re absolutely going to love The Invite, directed by Olivia Wilde. The film rests on a solid foundation of incredible dialogues, excellent body humor, and a sexy, provocative premise that projects the discomfort of the subject with excellent deftness. That said, if you’re a pearl-clutching puritan, you’re not likely to enjoy the film.
A Play on Humor
The film The Invite is like if Glengarry Glen Ross met Eyes Wide Shut met Hot Fuzz. By that I mean that the film takes place entirely in an apartment, and as a former drama kid, I could almost see the stageplay taking form. The film is a single evening of character work and humor, and a wonderful display of writing. Furthermore, it’s sexy. Penelope Cruz is sexy. Olivia Wilde, despite her efforts as a director to make her character more homely, is sexy. Edward Norton, despite his suave exterior and later dopey revelation, is sexy. It made Seth Rogan’s ‘everyman’-ness stand out even when he wasn’t pretending to be a goofball.
For those of you who have a hard time understanding physical humor, and have been inundated by recycled Charlie Chaplin clips, The Invite is a fantastic example of what that looks like. It’s not just slapstick, but it can include falling over and getting pantsed. It can also include Rogan’s incredible performance in this film. The way he conveys his insecurities, is anger, his frustrations- it’s all such a refreshing way of demonstrating who he is.
Edward Norton deserves a nod too, for his portrayal of a cool guy on paper with a clearly dorky inner monologue. He balanced the line between ‘white guy who believes in Buddhism’ and ‘quietly confident sex god’. I only wish he’d retained that persona instead of reverting to his character in Knives Out: Glass Onion.
A Wilde Time
I also enjoyed studying Olivia Wilde’s direction in this film. I don’t know if it was stellar or necessarily standout, but I could see the effort. I could see the decisions and creativity, the thought behind the blocking, camera placements, the feel of the film. The emotional heart of the film also rests on her and Rogan’s shoulders, and I have to say, she nailed the heartbreak.
My only complaint here was that her character was meant to be homely, lost, and frustrated with her husband’s lack of effort. In a story and dynamic where both parties were meant to have failed each other, I found that her character largely got away with being more sympathetic than Rogan’s. While Rogan is a sarcastic, witty, and tired old man who is quick to anger and harbors a narrow frame of mind, Wilde is… selfish? Perhaps spendy?
This inability to make her character unlikeable extended to Penelope Cruz, to an extent. Cruz was perfect. No character flaws, no mistakes, no secret issues. Even Norton is revealed to be kind of a patronizing, whimpering tool, but Cruz gets away unscathed. This decision to antagonize the characters is one that could go either way. It could be a thematic statement, or it could be just an internal bias. Given the runtime of the film and the overall quality of the writing, I don’t think there was a lack of time or ability to further characterize the women, so I think it’s something that’s going to mean different things to different people.
The Invite is a fantastic film, boosted by truly amazing writing and a set of incredible performances. The subject is simple, and the comedic abilities of the creative abilities of the filmmakers was on display. It’s the kind of film where people are going to laugh at different things given their sense of humor or ability to anticipate a joke. It’s the kind of film that I think is going to appeal to people who are sexually liberated, sexually inexperienced, socially shy, and even those who are extroverts.
I’d only really fault its runtime, and, as a personal note, the fact that we didn’t get too much in terms of motivation from Norton and Cruz. I get that they’re just sexual people who want to fuck other couples, whatevs. But the way that they spoke directly about Rogan and Wilde’s relationship issues, their bold claims, confidence, and even their subtle manipulations all spoke towards a deeper motivation.
Their little looks, their groundwork in leading the other couple towards nonmonogamy, which then led to an impromptu couple’s therapy session- it made me feel like Norton and Cruz were fed up with hearing their neighbors’ arguing and were simply trying to usher the couple towards a resolution- good or bad. Instead, they just disappear and after dropping an emotional bomb on the couple, are never heard from again.
I rate the film The Invite
GOOD
I saw The Invite in theaters, but expect it to hit HBO or Tubi, as all A24 films go.
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