I recently saw Diner again, one of my favorite flicks and possibly the greatest work by director Barry Levinson, in his directorial debut, I might add. A great part of the genius of the film is the casting. It's perfect. The movie launched the careers of previously unknowns Steve Guttenberg, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke, Timothy Daly, Ellen Barkin and Paul Reiser. However, the tour de force performance is by a young Kevin Bacon in the role of Timothy Fenwick, jr. If you haven't seen this movie, go see it for Kevin Bacon. He's simply brilliant.

I leanred a interesting behind the scenes details when I watched the documentary on the DVD. The most incredible, though hardly surprising, is that the studio, Warner Brothers, didn't like the film. They didn't know what to do with it since Diner didn't really fall into any set genre of the time. The plot is of secondary importance the relationships between the characters. There are no really outcomes or conclusions or closure, per se. The focus instead is on the importance of relationships between friends, between family and between people and place. So Warner Brothers shelved the movie. It was only after Diner was given a rave review in the New Yorker, who had somehow gotten ahold of a print, that the studio was shamed into releasing the movie.

All you have to do is watch the trailier to realize that the studio had no idea what this film was all about. Their tag line for the flick is "Suddenly, life was more than french fries, gravy and girls." What the hell is that? Stupid idiots. It's amazing how grossly overpaid the incompetent idiots are who run major studios.

Of the many great conversations that take place in the film, the most memorable, and probably most pivotal to the theme, is the one where Modell (Paul Reiser) asks, who would you listen to if you were making out, Mathis or Sinatra?

No Question. Old Blue Eyes. Hands down.

If you haven't seen Diner, go down to the video shop and rent it. You can thank me later.