Press tours have become their own genre of entertainment, and lately the junket circuit has been serving up moments juicier than some of the movies being promoted. Between spicy food challenges, lie detector tests, and puppy interviews, stars are increasingly asked to reveal a little more of themselves than a standard sit-down would ever allow.
That is exactly the arena Penélope Cruz and Olivia Wilde stepped into this week, and the pairing alone was enough to get fans talking. The two actresses have been everywhere together lately, trading stories about double dates, dysfunctional couples, and life on set as they make the rounds for their new film.
The moment currently lighting up social media came during their appearance on Allure’s Truth Serum series, where the co-stars answered revealing questions and shared candid confessions, from beauty habits and first impressions to behind-the-scenes stories. Somewhere between the confessions, the conversation drifted into genuinely forbidden territory, the question of whether Hollywood swinger parties actually exist.
“The Invite” begins in a frenzy of party preparations, with all sorts of shouty close-ups, jagged cuts and a musical score with stabbier strings than “Psycho.” As a filmmaker, Wilde has a tendency to lay things on too thick. Her overbearing 2019 directorial debut “Booksmart” couldn’t get a joke off without elbowing you in the ribs and repeating the punchline, and there’s something initially off-putting about this movie’s borderline mania. Luckily, things cool out upon the arrival of Norton and Cruz, with Wilde pulling the camera back into wider shots and allowing her actors to steer the scenes. “The Invite” becomes more of a theatrical piece, letting the laughs emerge from the interplay between the performers rather than trying to impose them on the material.
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