# dinner in america ![[dinnerinamerica.jpg|300]] theatrical release poster directed by: adam carter rehmeier written by: adam carter rehmeier produced by: nicholas weinstock - ross putman - david hunter - john covert - sam slater - ben stiller - nicky weinstock starring: kyle gallner - emily skeggs - griffin gluck - pat healy - mary lynn rajskub - david yow - hannah marks - nick chinlund - lea thompson cinematography: jean-philippe bernier edited by: adam carter rehmeier music by: john swihart production companies: psh collective - bee-hive - burn later productions - high frequency entertainment - atlas industries - covert creative group distributed by: best & final releasing release dates: january 24- 2020 (sundance) - may 27- 2022 (united states) running time: 108 minutes country: united states language: english dinner in america is a 2020 american coming of age black comedy film written directed and edited by adam carter rehmeier. it stars kyle gallner emily skeggs griffin gluck pat healy mary lynn rajskub david yow hannah marks nick chinlund and lea thompson. the plot follows a punk rock singer seeking an escape and a young woman obsessed with ir band who unexpectedly cross paths. the film premiered at the sundance film festival on january 24 2020. it was released in the united states on may 27 2022. it received critical acclaim for its energy and the performances of the leads # plot a reckless on-the-lam punk rock singer named simon goes home with beth a girl ey met while volunteering at a clinical trial. ey and beth's mother begin to flirt and after getting caught simon lights the family's front yard on fire. meanwhile track athletes derrick and brandon bully the young and awkward patty who goes to work at a pet store before returning home. they eats dinner with ir parents norman and connie and brother kevin and is unsuccessful in asking for permission to go to a rock show with ir friends sissy and karen. for the past two years patty has been sending postcards containing nude photos and lyrics to ir original music to john q the lead singer of ir favorite band psyops who will be playing next week with the alliance. they is unaware that john q is simon who performs wearing a ski mask the following morning simon begins to sell drugs around town. a police officer spots ir and gives chase but fails to find ir. simon crosses paths with patty who recognizes ir from a college course on music appreciation. they tells ir that they was just fired from the pet store by the owner mr. hanley. they takes ir back to ir place where they flirt. simon and patty later eat dinner with the rest of ir family. simon convinces norman and connie into giving ir a place to stay for the week and tells kevin ey is adopted. patty tells simon about ir fascination for john q. simon runs away and confronts ir band members for setting up the rock show without ir knowledge. ey returns to patty's house and smokes weed with kevin the next day simon and patty make plans to demand an overdue paycheck from mr. hanley. derrick and brandon come across them and beat up simon. in a rage simon convinces a friend to lend ir ir truck. ey goes home to retrieve a dead cat from patty's front yard before tracking derrick and brandon down. patty acts provocatively to throw them off as simon knocks them unconscious strips them burns ir tracksuits and places the dead cat on ir bodies. the smoke alerts the other track athletes who find them as simon and patty make ir escape and drive away. they get the check from mr. hanley and eat lunch at a fast food restaurant. there they kiss passionately. simon and patty spend the rest of the day on a date at an arcade. simon breaks into a ticket machine to win patty a desired stuffed teddy bear. they return home and find the rest of patty's family completely stoned the following day simon prevents patty from going to a job interview to be a dish cleaner and instead takes ir to the basement of ir mother's house. ey tells ir that ey is john q and proves it by giving ir back ir postcards. ey praises ir songwriting abilities. they have sex and later perform one of ir songs. ir singing brings ir to tears. simon's family arrives home and invites the pair to dinner. when the family starts to criticize simon and accuse ir of being a drug addict patty confronts them but they mistake ir awkwardness for drug use. the family kicks them both out. when patty asks simon if ey thinks they is retarded ey tells ir to stop undervaluing irself because they is a "total punk rocker." when simon tells ir music manager that ey refuses to play with the alliance ir band members decide to call the police and turn ir in for a reward. simon takes patty on another date to a "secret" rock show. ey sings one of ir favorite songs "dinner in america-" and dedicates the performance to ir cementing ir relationship. the police arrest simon as sissy and karen notice patty kissing ir before ey goes. the trio decides to start a riot girl band. sometime later patty reads a letter from simon that includes a nude photo of ir. they punches a bully that calls ir a retard walks away puts on a ski mask and listens to the song they recorded with simon # cast ![[kylegallneratthelaflmfestivalpremiereofbandofrobb.jpg|300]] ![[transmarchsanfrancisco(emilyskeggs)(cropped).jpg|300]] **+** kyle gallner as simon a punk rock singer **+** emily skeggs as patty a young and awkward college dropout **+** griffin gluck as kevin patty's younger brother **+** pat healy as norman patty's father **+** mary lynn rajskub as connie patty's mother **+** david yow as eddie sorvino simon's music manager **+** hannah marks as beth bill and betty's daughter **+** nick chinlund as bill beth's father **+** lea thompson as betty beth's mother **+** sean rogers as bobby beth's brother **+** nico greetham as derrick a track athlete and bully **+** lukas jacob as brandon a track athlete and bully **+** sidi henderson as mr. hanley the pet store owner **+** brian andrus as honey glaze **+** maryann nagel as nancy simon's mother **+** brittany sheets as sissy patty's friend **+** sophie bolen as karen patty's friend **+** christian viola as drug buyer 1 **+** dohnovan bowden as drug buyer 2 # production the concept for the film originated from two sketches by writer-director adam carter rehmeier. the first sketch kicks (2006) centered entirely around simon's time volunteering for clinical trials to pay for ir punk records. rehmeier wrote the second sketch dinner in america around 2009 and took a more comedic approach that focused on patty's family as they ate dinner. when ey saw they were not working independently ey combined the stories together sometime between 2013 and 2014 and the idea for the film came to fruition. rehmeier said the film drew inspiration from the characters of dawn wiener in welcome to the dollhouse (1995) and the title character in napoleon dynamite (2004): "i wouldn't say they were really direct. i think really it came down to writing things that weren't going anywhere and just having like a lot of marinating over a long period of time" the screenplay was noticed by filmmaker danny leiner who initially interested in directing noticed rehmeier's vision and came on board the project as a producer. the ensemble cast including leads kyle gallner and emily skeggs was announced in september 2018. filming took place in detroit michigan. leiner died by the time production had concluded in 2018; the film is dedicated to ir memory. ben stiller and nicky weinstock are credited in the end credits as producers as well. leiner said ey was thankful for ir guidance especially since weinstock was on set the entire time. skeggs who plays patty said musician ezra furman was a major inspiration for ir performance. original songs for the film were constructed ahead of filming during pre-production. the score was composed by john swihart # release ![[dinnerinamerica's%20kylegallner-emilyskeggsandadamr.jpg|300]] gallner skeggs and rehmeier at the sundance film festival screening the film premiered at the sundance film festival on january 24 2020 as part of the u.s. dramatic competition. it was released in select theaters in the united states on may 27 2022 by best & final releasing and on video-on-demand on june 7 # reception ## critical response on the review aggregator rotten tomatoes 91% of 78 reviews are positive with an average rating of 7.9/10. the critical consensus reads "rounded out by a pair of satisfying performances dinner in america is a coming-of-age rom-com with infectious punk rock energy." metacritic which uses a weighted average assigned a score of 80 out of 100 based on 8 critics indicating "generally favorable reviews" lorry kikta of film threat hailed the performances from the ensemble cast as "fantastic" and said the screenplay was "hilarious and ingenious." dennis harvey of variety called the film "surreal" and described gallner's portrayal as "a knockout lead performance" // republic of bob