The film opens during a crucial night in Lucy and Banks’ lives. After having worked at a diner for many years and harboured a deep hatred for its griminess and everything else that it stands for, tonight is the night they burn it down to the ground and head for the mountains. As they prepare to tie up the loose ends before starting the life that awaits them, the entry of an unexpected character changes everything. 
Montgomery has driven long hours, eventually crashing his rental car outside the diner, to at last have the meal he has looked forward to, and some more. The ensuing exchange is marked by a characteristic outlandishness that imbues the film with notable texture. The storytelling becomes metaphorical as it talks of burning down something that holds you back from an ideal, or in the case of Lucy and Banks, an idyllic life. While the fate of all three of them hangs in the balance, the film further comes to be defined by a seamless visual progression, expert performances, and unlikely moments of humor that only serve to accentuate the skill and tonality of the end result.

Danny's Diner | Spotlight

The film paints a reality that straddles darkness and humor with notable ease. It presents a conversation between two dead soldiers of the American Revolution, trying to figure out their presence in an in-between field before they move on to their eventual destination. While James continues to persistently look for his hat, Edmund is quick to run out of patience with him. 

A la Didi and Gogo, the two continue their banter/bickering in a limbo-esque field between life and death, with the hat serving as a potential metaphor for a quest for something seemingly meaningless for one, but extremely precious for another, much like the many battles of life itself. 

The pacing of the narrative sometimes sags a little, but the performances and writing help to pull it back into place. A tighter control on future projects would enhance the storytelling further. Nevertheless, the two performances strike the right notes with their chemistry and verbal exchange, and the end result becomes a comedy with a heart and soul. In the process, it manages to seamlessly achieve meaning within the universe of the film.

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