FILM REVIEW
THE INVITE
Rated R
107 Minutes
Released July 10th
At first, Olivia Wilde did not intend to star in The Invite as the repressed “Angela.” She was only going to direct the film. The other three members of the four-character ensemble, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz, and Edward Norton, talked her into starring in it. Wilde had been drawn to the project after reading the script by actress/writer/producer Rashida Jones and her longtime writing partner Will McCormack.
Wilde and her ensemble got together on a soundstage, creatively fleshed out their characters, and gave them voices. Wilde later brought in a psychotherapist to work with Cruz on her character, who is a psychotherapist. The film was shot in 21 days on a single set. Wilde says the story draws on a lot of her own experiences and that it was “a relief to rip my heart out and plonk it on the table.” The Invite is a skillfully told story of two couples who have a profound effect on one another during the span of one evening inside a San Francisco apartment. Normally, I find movies that are set in one room and presented in conversation to be boring, better as a play, but not The Invite. Well written and beautifully acted, this movie is riveting.
The film opens with “Joe,” played by Seth Rogen, biking home from his job as a music teacher at a San Francisco school, riding up one of the city’s ridiculously steep hills to the point of utter exhaustion. This is the only outdoor scene in the film and serves the crucial purpose of setting the location and of leading us from the outside world into the apartment where the rest of the story takes place.
When Joe arrives home, his wife Angela is making final preparations for an intimate dinner with invited guests, a couple in their building they have never met but hear their noises at night from upstairs. The guests, “Pina” and “Hawk,” are played by Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton. The four people are similar in lifestyle but a world apart in personality.
The apartment furnishings and Angela’s attire take on meaning as extensions of her personality. Angela’s apartment is as aesthetically balanced as her calming moss green blouse with matching decorative chest pockets, perhaps her attempt to find control while surrounded by emotional turbulence.
Wilde is the daughter of two investigative journalists who covered international war zones and other risky assignments. Her birth name is Olivia Jane Cockburn, and her stage name is a salute to the great Irish playwright Oscar Wilde. She grew up in Washington DC and had a typical New England boarding school education, culminating in acceptance to Bard College, but put off enrollment to take acting jobs. She spent her summers with her grandparents in County Ardmore in Ireland, which she feels is her second home.
Her parents wrote a screenplay for The Peacemaker, a George Clooney film, and as a teen, Wilde had lunch with the star and a set visit. She then knew this was the career she wanted. She was cast as “Alex Kelly” in the long-running series The O.C. in 2004 and played “Dr. Remy” in House from 2007 to 2012. She is a board member of Artists for Peace and Justice, which provides humanitarian support to Haiti. She says her parents always told her, “Don’t be boring.” I don’t think she has to worry about that.
This movie probably would not have worked without this cast. Wilde, Rogen, Cruz, and Norton created a painting come to life here. Rogen gives a more fine-tuned performance than usual as Joe. Cruz, who plays “Pina,” in the couple from upstairs, has been working in film and TV since 1989, when she started acting in her native Spain as a teen. Prior to that, she trained for years as a classical ballerina, and that is responsible, no doubt, for her graceful command of movement. Norton, a highly accomplished actor, has been working in film and TV since 1994. He knew he would be an actor since the age of 5, attended theatre schools, and began his career on the New York stage.
He is one of those rare actors who can and will transform himself completely for a role. Interesting side note – Norton’s grandfather was real estate developer James Rouse, who founded Columbia, Maryland, and created the concept of the indoor mall.
Olivia Wilde has truly come into her own as a director. This is a beautifully done drama with comedy lurking underneath every look, every comment, every reaction. The dialogue is genuine for each character, coming from their heart, with their own style of speech and word choices, rhythm, and pace. Each character becomes more fascinating as the story unfolds.
In spite of having no car chases, bombs, knock-down-drag-out fights, or precarious stunts, this film is gripping. The tension, mostly positive, is set between the characters. You can feel the magnetism pulling each towards and away from the others emotionally, as the balance shifts like an ocean current between them. Just to watch this ensemble of some of the finest actors working today bring to life these four people who gradually drop their inhibitions and begin to say what they’re really thinking is a gift of artistry to the audience.
Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which has been the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com.
