[diner] with friends

one of the little "kicks" i get in life, is watching a movie, at the same time of year, the film is set in. for example, i enjoy watching "planes, trains and automobiles" during the days leading up to thanksgiving, and watching "the sandlot" anytime during the summer. i also religiously watch "back to the future" on november 5th, which is of course the day doc brown invented time travel. one movie that usually finds it's way into my dvd player during this time of year is "diner". not only is it a classic "guys" movie, and is set in the late fifties, it takes place during the days leading up to new years eve. although i was late watching this flick this year, it was none the less enjoyable.

for anyone that hasn't seen "diner", the movie takes place in 1959, and is centered around six college aged friends that constantly hang out at an all-night diner eating gravy and fries and drinking cherry cokes, discussing music, life decisions, and women.

watching this film, i was amazed how much a movie made in 1982, about a group of guys in the 50's, reminded me of my own friends. much like in the movie, i met up with a few of my college friends over the holidays, and much like the movie our conversations centered around music, life decisions, and women. a few years ago, these conversations were held in the confines of our own "diner", a tiny bar in manhattan known as "rock-a-belly deli". there was a bit of all my friends portrayed by the characters on screen, as well as myself.

while watching, i was reminded why i felt this was such a great film. a whole movie devoted to hanging out with friends in the days before, jobs, families and responsibilities! the movie reminded me how much i missed my friends and the days at "bellies". a place where you could always find someone you knew. a place where we had our own table. a place where we could solve all the worlds problems...needed now more than ever with the current economic situation we're finding ourselves in.

when the movie ended i decided to "geek" out and research the movie. checking out facts and trivia from the movie, i came across the plot synopsis. upon reading it, i found that i had actually missed the entire point of the film! the movie wasn't trying to glorify guys hanging out having pointless conversation, but rather knowing when to put that time of your life behind you, and become adult. to leave the safety of the diner, and venture on with your life. the very situation my friends and i are in now.

...and it suddenly made sense to me why this movie is a classic.