Dinner in America (3 Stars)

Patty is a 20-year-old woman who lives somewhere in Michigan. She's bullied by people who call her a retard. I would never use that word to describe a woman, but I have to admit that she's intellectually limited. She's the sort of woman I would be kind to, but I wouldn't dream of asking her on a date. The only thing I like about her is her taste in music. She's the fan of a punk band called Psyops.

I'll pause there to praise the film's director. Americans in general don't know what punk is. They get punk confused with alternative rock music. Most Americans describe Patti Smith and the Ramones as punk. Okay, the Ramones were a borderline case, but Patti Smith herself insists she was never a punk. True punk originated in England and was epitomised by bands such as the Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks, Sham 69 and Ultravox. It wasn't just the aggression in their music; there was a deliberate intention to be offensive. I'm not saying that America didn't have any punk bands. There were the Dead Kennedys. Punk rock was nihilistic. The bands didn't want a revolution, they said that there was no future.

English punk rock fizzled out very quickly. After a few years of saying there was no future they realised they were in the future that they said would never come. Either the bands changed their music style, or they watered down their message. In Germany, for instance, punk bands copy the melodies of the early bands, but they've politicised their messages. German punk rock is left wing, whereas the early music was apolitical.

When we finally hear Psyops play in "Dinner in America", it's true punk rock. It's the sort of band that could have been playing in England in the late 1970's.

"I'm a watermelon slammed into your driveway,
Crack me open so I feel the air inside me".

Beautiful! Pure nihilism!

Now let's get back to the film. Patty has been sending letters with sexual photos of herself to the band's singer, John Q. One day John takes refuge in Patty's house because he's on the run from the police. He's a pyromaniac and he's been selling drugs. She doesn't recognise him, because he wears a mask on stage. He doesn't recognise her, because the photos are only close ups of body parts.

I went through three phases while watching the film. I hated the first part, because John is so objectionable as a person and Patty is so intellectually limited. The second part was okay, when they discovered their connection and it became a love story. The third part was great, when the music kicked in. I've given it an overall rating of three stars, i.e. average.

The film is currently only available on Blu-ray in Germany, but it can be watched on Amazon Prime in America and other countries.