(2 of 2)
The film is wonderfully cast and played, right down to the bit player (Ralph Tabakin) who shops suspiciously for a TV set: "I saw Bananzo and it was not for me. The Ponderosa looked faked." Stern and Bacon have refreshingly un-movie faces—the one sweet-souled and long-nosed, the other feral, cheeky and forthrightly Irish—fronting outsize talents. But the prize in this gallery is Mickey Rourke, who made a strong impression in Body Heat and assumes command of Diner whenever he is onscreen. With a face as handsome as it is streetwise, and a smile that manages to be both shy and cunning, Rourke has the potential of a young Jack Nicholson. However bright his star may shine, though, he could have trouble finding a movie that offers him as sexy a role—or the audience as much unforced pleasure—as this small gem.
—By Richard Corliss