Too many fans seem to be blown away

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

I just saw this movie. It was recommended by a friend who is a die hard Mr. Show fan. I didn't mind that it was a more serious movie that I expected and although it had its moments I think that it fell short of the profundity that it was attempting. Some of the dialoge was genuine and intriguing, but a lot of it was pretentious and over written. There were some good cameo's from Jack Black and David Cross and although I'm a fan of both Maura Tierney and Melora Walters, I felt that in this movie they were given thankless,one dimensional roles. The payoff at the end of the movie didn't really live up to the build up. I fell in love with Kathleen Roll as the compelling and inept waitress who provided the some of the most genuine and funny moments of the movie. I hope to see her again.

Witless, trendy twaddle and psycho-babble of the most annoying variety. This may well be the worst film ever made. It is difficult to believe that anyone has ever made it through this movie in one sitting. It is hard to decide which element of this film is the worst: the acting, which is stiff, yet glistening with the desperation of young, hungry actors trying to find meaning in this piece of dreck; the writing, in which the aching banality is broken up only by the sense of irritation that is the inevitable outcome of listening to the ill-considered opinions of dullards; or the cinematography, which is flat, insipid and unattractive.There are a few people involved with this film, such as David Cross and Maura Tierney, who have shown real talent in the past. One imagines they intensely regret their association with this piece of tripe.

"Melvin Goes to Dinner" is an amateur film of adolescent love. It is done in a rapid fire sequence of TV quality cinema. The acting is real only in the fact that it gives the appearance of a running camera. some of the comedy is cute. However, there are very few moments that can save this movie and make it worth ones time. Believability is lacking. Stunning cinematography is lacking. A real coherent story is lacking. There must be a reason to have made this film, but it is close to the bottom of the barrel. It is not as weak as "Killer Tomatoes", but it is in a close race. If one has nothing better to do, worse DVD's could be rented. However, a purchase of this film is a serious error.

Michael Blieden wrote the play on which "Melvin Goes to Dinner" is based and he also authored the screenplay. He's Melvin, an apparent early dropout from psychiatry working for his sister in some municipal planning department. He plans on dinner with his old friend, Joey (Matt Rice) and their pal, Alex (Stephanie Courtney). With flashbacks, we learn that Alex ran into her business school classmate whom she hasn't seen for seven years, Sarah (Annabelle Gurwitch) and invited her to join the trio for dinner.What follows is a typical casual, restaurant get-together among friends in their thirties who engage in random and rapidly shifting chatter. The usual topics prevail: friendship, work, the ticking of a woman's biological clock, reincarnation, anal sex, cheating on lovers - the list goes on. They have a waitress, unnamed (Kathleen Roll), who's predictably ditzy.It's all been done before but there is a surprise here near the end, a big one. And the quartet is engaged in some probing but fleeting talk about life issues that matter to most viewers, especially younger ones. The cast is largely inexperienced-only one, Ms. Gurwitch, has any real list of credits.One really neat episode: recounting his experiences as a staff shrink (and improbably wearing not only surgical garb but a face mask around his throat), Melvin interviews a purportedly schizophrenic patient played, without a credit, by Jack Black. Black's nutcase actually espouses one of the most lucid and convincing views of the nature of life I've ever seen on the screen. He doesn't belong on a psych ward. It really got me thinking."Melvin Goes to Dinner" is neither as terrific as some claim nor as bad as others feel. If, like me, you are a restaurant voyeur who compulsively listens in on conversations emanating from other tables, you'll feel at home here and particularly enjoy following the whole interchange without being distracted by talking with your friends or having to deal with wait staff.7/10