The Dish & The Spoon

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The Dish & The Spoon Photos

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Movie Info

Devastated by the news of her husband's affair and convulsed by waves of grief and rage, twenty something Rose (Greta Gerwig)-vengeful, a bit unhinged, and still clad in her pajama bottoms-drives to a sleepy seaside town in Delaware intent on finding her spouse's lover. Climbing into an old lighthouse on the beach to swill a six-pack of beer, Rose stumbles upon a sleeping British teenager (Olly Alexander) whom she wakes and insists on taking somewhere. Stranded by some unknown party, the chatty, ludicrously attired youth accompanies Rose to a brewery where "the other woman" was recently employed and then to her parents' summer getaway house, slowly attuning to her anguish. As the grey winter days roll by, the mismatched pair embark on a series of frolicsome adventures-English dance lessons, role-playing in public-that bring them into closer quarters, igniting a bittersweet, perhaps imaginary romance. -- (C) Alison Bagnall

Rating:

R (for language including some sexual references)
Genre:

Comedy, Drama, Romance
Directed By:

Alison Bagnall
Written By:

Alison Bagnall, Andrew Lewis
In Theaters:

Feb 10, 2012 limited
On Disc/Streaming:

Mar 12, 2012
Runtime:

92 minutes
Studio:

Screen Media Ventures

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Cast

Greta Gerwig
as Rose

Olly Alexander
as The Boy

Eleonore Hendricks
as Emma

Amy Seimetz
as Emma's Friend

Adam Rothenberg
as Husband

News & Interviews for The Dish & The Spoon

Critics Consensus: Journey 2 Isn’t Quite Worth the Trip

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Critic Reviews for The Dish & The Spoon

All Critics (12) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (7) | Rotten (5)

Beautifully photographed, "The Dish & the Spoon" is awash in images of rain-soaked streets and gray wintry skies.

Feb 9, 2012 | Rating: 4/5

Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic
For once, an American indie's muted modesty at least makes emotional sense, suiting a bittersweet romance that, by nature, has neither a name nor a future.

Feb 7, 2012 | Full Review…

Eric Hynes
Village Voice
Top Critic
Bagnall successfully exploits the seriocomic disparity between the supercharged relationship offscreen and the desultory one onscreen.

Apr 6, 2011 | Full Review…

Ronnie Scheib
Variety
Top Critic
Gerwig handles her character's extreme mood swings with finesse.

Mar 19, 2011 | Full Review…

John DeFore
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic
Director Alison Bagnall crafts a model independent film, a miniature story told with feeling and humor...

Apr 10, 2012 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Gerald Peary
Boston Phoenix
Not so much an actual movie as an assortment of Amerindie affectations, The Dish & the Spoon doesn't waste a moment on recognizable reality, consumed as it is with checking off various items from its list of clichés.

Feb 7, 2012 | Rating: 1.5/4 | Full Review…

Nick Schager
Slant Magazine
Less dish than dishrag, Greta's broken woman does a stunning, kind of Albert Nobbs role reversal stud predator in drag. But this road movie detour into destination cautionary cougar romance, is not nearly as daring as its whimsical if troubled humans.

Jan 31, 2012 | Full Review…

Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze
The Dish and Spoon poses the possibility that, from a different proximity, the MPG is a volatile beast and far more than the promise of your fantasies can actually tolerate.

Jan 30, 2012 | Rating: 4/5

Sara Maria Vizcarrondo
Boxoffice Magazine
The film might be described as a notion that never quite grows up to be an idea, bookended by more or less scripted scenes that wouldn't have been out of place in a Goldie Hawn movie.

Nov 17, 2011 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
With its deliberately quirky characters and meandering series of events, this mumblecore movie is enjoyably ramshackle, constantly catching us off guard with spiky humour or warm emotion.

Oct 27, 2011 | Rating: 2.5/5 | Full Review…

Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Too good-natured to hate but familiar enough to be instantly forgettable, The Dish and the Spoon is one for mumblecompletists only.

Oct 17, 2011 | Full Review…

Charlie Lyne
Ultra Culture
Quickly dissolves into an alternately spastic and drowsy mulch of Sundance-y clichés.

May 13, 2011 | Full Review…

Fernando F. Croce
House Next Door

View All Critic Reviews (12)

Audience Reviews for The Dish & The Spoon

Mar 05, 2013

Driving off crying and apparently in her pajamas to boot, Rose(Greta Gerwig) is too upset to have remembered her wallet, leaving her just enough money for the breakfast of champions, donuts and beer. She would prefer enjoying this delicious meal in the privacy of a lighthouse but discovers a young englishman(Olly Alexander) sleeping there. Concerned for his welfare, she offers to drive him to a hospital but he waves her off. Instead they go to the brewery where until very recently the woman who had an affair with Rose's husband worked. As long as they are there, they have a beer or ten, while playing hangman and Rose discloses her plans. To be honest, "The Dish and the Spoon" does not have much in the way of a story, just people living in the past which applies to not just Rose, a mentally unstable woman, just as it is occasionally good to get away to gain some perspective. At the same time, neither of the lead characters seemed to have existed before the movie started. Otherwise, it is up to the Delaware Tourism Board and the two talented lead actors to produce anything of substance and just as importantly to prevent the movie from going over the ledge into cringeworthy territory.

Walter M Super Reviewer