After a terrible movie at first, the afternoon picked up dramatically with the extremely funny and truly unexpected film starring Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Edward Norton and Penelope Cruz called The Invite.

Olivia Wilde directed this film from A24 that went in a way that I had not expected.

According to IMDB, “Joe and Angela’s marriage is on thin ice. When they invite their enigmatic upstairs neighbors for a dinner party, the night spirals into unexpected places.”

The Invite was funny, intelligent, well-written and shocking. The film, basically, took four characters and put them together in an apartment and they carried this film through an amazing film. It feels like a stage play in this way.

Seth Rogen, Olivia Wilde, Edward Norton and Penelope Cruz are absolutely wonderful and they share an amazing chemistry. They bounced back and forth between these characters and the intelligent dialogue was fabulous.

I was very surprised at some of the stuff that they went into during these conversations. I did not expect the way this went. It was funny and turned into a serious film as well. All four of these actors showed a great range in the film and delivered.

I was fully engaged with this movie and I was thoroughly entertained by these talented actors and writers. I was looking forward to this movie and it came through big time.

4.5 stars