Angela (Olivia Wilde) and music teacher husband Joe (Seth Rogen) have the house to themselves, so Amanda has (to his chagrin) invited their noisy neighbours Hawk (Edward Norton) and Pina (Penelope Cruz) for a dinner party, something she has never done before.
(Slant Magazine)
A return to form for Olivia Wilde, getting her and her co-stars' teeth stuck into some truly juicy scripting and dialogue (by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack of all people!) reminiscent of "God of Carnage" by Yasmina Reza (there's a funny little nod to "Art" with Olivia Wilde and Edward Norton discussing identical shades of paint on a bedroom wall) tackling relationships and manners in a witty, extremely funny 4-hander. It has its stumbles (the soundtrack bumbles in at clunky moments) but the acting and writing are top notch, and Olivia Wilde directs it so as to not simply feel like a televised play adaptation (I rather liked the 70s style opening credits), and keeps a tight reign on things so it doesn't feel like farce. It's a far better examination of marriage and awkward character drama than that last fucking awful Bradley Cooper project.
A good, funny, clever time, and Rogen in particularly has never been better.

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