Diner (1982)

Set in 1959, Diner shows how five young men resist their adulthood and seek refuge in their beloved Diner. The mundane, childish, and titillating details of their lives are shared. But the golden moments pass, and the men shoulder their responsibilities, leaving the Diner behind. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Michael Tucker appeared again as the character Bagel in the Barry Levinson film Tin Men (1987). The diner used in the movie was moved further downtown in Baltimore, and by 2002 was an on-the-job training school for at-risk youth. All of the scenes in the diner were filmed last after the cast got to know each other. The dialog in those scenes is a combination of scripted and improvisational. Barry Levinson claims that the infamous football quiz that Eddie forces his fiancee to pass is based on something that one of his male cousins did in real life. Paul Reiser had not planned on auditioning for the film. He accompanied a friend who was auditioning, and while in the waiting room, he was persuaded to come back to audition himself. Kevin Bacon was sick on the day of his screen test to play Fenwick. But he had previously decided that his character would probably be half-drunk during the entire movie, so he went ahead and auditioned and got the part. 'Barry Levinson' had the main actors arrive in Baltimore a week before filming began to get to know each other and build rapport. Predictably, the young male actors went out on the town to clubs and tried to pick up women. Sometimes they would use bogus stories about what they were doing in Baltimore. Timothy Daly says he came up with the most popular one, that they were engineers working on a rotating rooftop restaurant. The diner used was real, operational and open for business during filming. Because there were so many night scenes, the filmmakers kept the kitchen running 24/7, and often the cast would see the sunrise as they finished the day's work quaffing beer. Just like his character Shrevie, Daniel Stern (a Maryland native) was the only main actor who was married when Diner was filming, and thus missed out on much of the nightclub action with the other guys.

Wow, listen to this cast: Steve Guttenberg, Mickey Rourke, Daniel Stern, Timothy Daly, Paul Reiser, Kevin Bacon, Ellen Barkin, and Michael Tucker. And then consider that this was filmed in 1982 before most of these guys really hit the screen. Then throw in a masterful screenplay and inspired improvisation, especially from Reiser, during then diner scenes and you get a great movie. I also thought it was a good touch that you never see Elyse's face (Elyse is the bride that Steve Guttenberg is going to marry). By not showing her face the marriage becomes a concept that the characters are struggling with.