Respond to these rapid questions in our Table 19 quiz and we will tell you which Table 19 character you are. Play it now.
“Table 19” is a film for anyone who has ever felt extremely uncomfortable at a wedding reception hosted by someone they don’t know. That might not sound like a rousing endorsement—in fact, it would make for one of the most unappealing DVD box quotes of all time—but there is such a thing as an underserved market, and this film caters to one of those markets. As we’ll see, it worked out a little too well.
The number of tables at a wedding reception is referred to in the title of the song. It’s a long way away from the family tables for the bride and groom. In fact, it’s about as far back as you can get without being out on the street at the same time. Every person at the table takes a few minutes before they can figure out what they have in common and why they have been assigned to this particular table. Enough said about their problematic relationships with other members of the wedding party, and that’s how they ended up seated in a corner near a restroom, for the time being.
One is Eloise (Anna Kendrick), the former maid of honor who was booted from her prestigious position in the wedding party after her best man, Teddy (Wyatt Russell), who also happens to be the bride’s brother, broke up with her over text message. In addition to these characters, there is Jerry and Bina Kepp (Craig Robinson and Lisa Kudrow), who are part of the Ohio diner scene in which the groom’s family is immersed. There’s also Jo Flanagan (June Squibb), the bride’s former nanny who is friendly and nosy while telling charming stories about the bride and her brother; Renzo Eckberg (Tony Revolori), a teenager who arrived at the reception only after being assured by his mother that he would be sitting at the “singles table,” and who appears to have no social skills; and Walter Thimple (Stephen Merchant), who is one of the strangest characters I’ve seen
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You should be aware that “Table 19” is an unpleasant experience that begins with a tense atmosphere. I’m not just referring to the fact that the film’s main characters are thrust into an uncomfortable situation, with no clear understanding of why they’ve been assigned to this table or even why they agreed to attend the reception. I’m referring to the fact that the film itself puts you on edge in ways that are only subconsciously noticeable. Because you know nothing about the other guests in the wedding party other than the bare minimum of information you’ve been given, there are no opportunities for the film to cheat and fill in the gaps. As a result of Jeffrey Blitz’s direction and co-writing of the film, which was developed in collaboration with Jay and Mark Duplass, keeping the camera focused on the people at the table and observing everyone else from their point of view, you feel just as isolated as they do. The entire experience is designed to be uncomfortable. And there’s an additional layer of unease that comes with wondering if you’ve signed up to watch a feature-length film that will be confined to a single table at a wedding reception for the entire 90-minute duration.
Table 19 Quiz
After a certain point, however—I’d rather not say when or how—”Table 19″ frees its characters from their captivity, and the film goes on to become something I was not expecting: a film about characters who are thrown together in an unfamiliar environment and discover that the new environment encourages them to confront emotional issues they’ve been avoiding for a long period of time.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this Table 19 quiz.
Every person at the table has a secret, and the secrets are eventually revealed, often through interactions with tablemates who they have only recently met. Probably the most enjoyable part of the film is the middle section, during which the characters seem to wander off on their own and temporarily forget about the reception they were here for. (There’s a brief allusion to “The Wizard of Oz” in this passage; you’ll recognize it when you see it).
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This section of the story has a liberating feel to it, which is refreshing. “No more, I’ve had enough, let’s get out of here and clear our heads,” says the film itself as it rises from the table. In addition, the film appears to set up specific subplots that you expect to resolve predictably—for example, a flirtation between Eloise and a handsome stranger named Huck, played by Thomas Cocquerel—only to send them out in counter-intuitive, if not purposefully anticlimactic, fashion.
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Unfortunately, “Table 19” also feels the need to be a romantic comedy in which everything works out in the end, and it is here that the film falls down the most spectacularly, as it does throughout the film. Again, I don’t want to say too much about specific plot points because the film’s most intriguing aspects are the choices it makes and the unexpected timing of those choices—but I can say that the more the film tries to satisfy the conventional requirements of the Hollywood romantic comedy that wraps everything up in a cute little bow, the more forced and unremarkable it appears to be. This is a movie that hasn’t laid the groundwork for the kinds of emotional epiphanies it claims to have at the very end of the film. In the middle section, nearly everything that happens makes sense to me, and I admire the first section for its (relative) boldness in comparison. However, while “Table 19” is fundamentally a heartwarming film, it is not a sentimental one, and when it pivots and becomes the kind of film that it was initially intended to be an alternative to, its spark is extinguished.
However, it’s worth seeing for the performances, particularly those of Merchant, who steals the show. His trademark ostrich walk and deadpan line deliveries are a constant source of amusement for his audience.
For more personality quizzes check this: A United Kingdom Quiz.
