The Invite

Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton in “The Invite.” Photo via IMDb.com

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd has me rethinking my review of “The Odyssey.” With the ink barely dry on her 2023 Columbia University master’s degree in literature, she joins the classicists taking issue with writer-director Christopher Nolan’s version. It’s not just the absence of the gods in his retelling of the Greek epic.

It’s the absence of SEX.

The whole horny subtext is missing, Maureen complains. All of the randy coupling among humans and deities. She’s happy to do the lit-major strut, name dropping her way through the deleted erotic scenes.

She reminded me that my own experience  of “The Odyssey” and its companion “The Iliad” pretty much took place in junior high school, when I wouldn’t have gotten the sex parts anyway.

Looks like I might have to check out Emily Wilson’s translation of “The Odyssey” that Nolan based his screenplay on. Actually reading a classic … what a concept.

Anyone looking for more blatant sexuality on screen can find it, in spades, in “The Invite,” a savage comedy brilliantly directed by Olivia Wilde, who also stars in the stellar ensemble featuring Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton.

You lose count of the belly laughs early on but they’re brittle around the edges. It’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” for new generations who don’t have a clue who Virginia Woolf was.

People with sufficient wisdom can see the humor, if not downright silliness, on the subject of sex – in contrast to less evolved souls for whom it’s a serious obsession ruling their lives. 

Its absence is no fun, either. Meet Joe (Rogen) and Angela (Wilde), a San Francisco couple whose marriage is a leaky boat foundering on the rocks. Despite their cool 12-year-old daughter, his cool job as a music teacher, her cool degree in art now manifested in the way she decorates their cool apartment, their relationship has become little more than resentments and recriminations.

These are played for laughs early in Will McCormack and Rashida Jones’ script, which quickly has the audience LOLing, even as we squirm in our seats. Joe and Angela’s problems are amplified by the new couple who have moved in upstairs. Not only are Piña (Cruz) and Hawk (Norton) eye candy to look at and seemingly possessed of supreme self-confidence, but the moans, grunts and operatic orgasms through the ceiling keep Joe and Angela up all night. Literally.

Angela’s impulsive decision to have them to dinner is the first of the film’s invites. There will be more, as details of the new neighbors’ group-sex lifestyle emerge. The script, under Wilde’s assured direction, is glorious fun as it peels off one mask after another in the awkward foursome.

Adapted from a Spanish play by Cesc Gay, “The Invite” is a drawing room comedy, taking place on a single set (well, an apartment actually) in a single evening. It is a balancing act of familiarity – its bickering and bitching will make you wince – along with more serious revelations.

Buoyed by a razor scalpel script, it is an acting showcase. Riding the multi-Emmy-winning crest of “The Studio,” Rogen has evolved from obnoxious stoner goofball to talented actor. He perfectly embodies the curmudgeonly desperation of Joe, who can never overcome the imposter syndrome of sharing the screen with such gorgeous costars.

Norton registers another mid-career triumph after “A Complete Unknown,” “Birdman” and all those Wes Anderson comedies. Despite his reputation for being difficult to work with, his comic instincts are impeccable.

Cruz – whose Piña turns out to be not only a psychotherapist but a sexologist, too – brings wisdom to all the comic chaos. As gets noticed with each new role she plays, she is less an actress than a force of nature.

Wilde not only holds her own in such mighty company, but turns Angela’s endless flaws and insecurities into gems. And don’t forget, she’s the puppeteer behind the camera pulling everyone else’s strings. 

As smart as she was captivating at a 2011Maui Film Festival appearance, the evolution of Wilde’s career has earned her the right to be mentioned in the same breath as master director Mike Nichols and stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton when they turned Virginia Woolf’s name into a cultural milestone.

At some point you can’t tell whether the tears on your cheeks are from helpless laughter or the shock of recognition, but either way you’re glad to have been included in “The Invite.”