Name: The Meal
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 h 30 min
Rating: 3.9
Cast: Dina Merrill, Carl Betz, Leon Ames

This film looks like a tourist took his Super 8 camera to a dinner party in Florida and told everyone they were going to be in a movie! If not for the three established actors in the cast, it would barely pass muster as a home movie. Even so, the end result is sloppy, amateurish and overly ambitious. The film wants to draw parallels between the way people devour food and the way people devour each other. This is (not-so-subtley) hammered home by continuous shots of food being displayed and carved and consumed. The story is very heavy for such thin production values and lack of acting talent. The usually glorious Merrill (who always looks amazing) is saddled with a terrifyingly ugly wig that Shirley Jones wouldn't spit on. She tries so hard to give a performance, but there is no hope under this direction. Ames is about as far down as one can come after a career that included over 100 films like "Battleground", "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" and "Peyton Place". He and Merrill attempt to make something happen, but are defeated in their main scene by (of all things) ice hitting a glass(because the sound quality is so poor!) Listen for it. Betz gives it his best shot as well, but is hopelessly done in by the lame production. All of the other characters are portrayed by numbingly bad amateurs who, in very many cases, never got another role in TV or movies! One girl who tries to make an impact is Logan (billed as "Introducing..." in the credits, but never heard from again!) There is just no way that a story with all this visual symbolism and self-important dialogue can come to life when filmed with a home movie camera containing bad lighting and sound. ***SPOILER*** Though nothing is actually shown, fans of "The Donna Reed Show" should get a mild shock seeing her TV husband (Betz) waking up with his pants undone next to another man! In this regard, the film is notable since that is a plot twist that hadn't been utilized much in that time (or even since, really...)

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)

What starts as a gathering of some of America's most prominent socialites, invited under the guise of introducing an enterprising young man's new business venture, becomes a night of frenzy for the unsuspecting guests.

Carl Betz and Dina Merrill in The Meal (1975)

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood's perfect pairs.

Hollywood Power Couples

Get a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s perfect pairs.

"The Gentlemen" and "Slow Horses" return this fall, while the "Reacher" spin-off series "Neagley" makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

The Meal

Photos2

Top Cast14

User reviews2

Related interests

Storyline

Did you know

Top picks

Details

Tech specs

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed