Living Things: A Vegan & Meat Debate

Writer-director Eric Shapiro's wife Rhoda Jordan stars here as a young vegan and yoga instructor named Rhona, who hosts a dinner of tofu and vegetables for Leo (Ben Siegler), her conservative, meat-loving father-in-law. At his instigation, the pair embark on a “discussion” of the relative merits of their philosophies of eating, extending their conversation to cover such topics as health and nutrition, spirituality, and morality. The initial cordiality gives way to argument—going from smiles and accommodation to barbs and insults until the conversation erupts into violence (oddly, when they are fighting over climate change, not veganism). Living Things is a message movie that clearly sympathizes with Rhona, although she doesn't really make the best case for veganism, not least because she spends too much time deflecting Leo's specious arguments (such as “plants have feelings, too”). Billing itself as being reminiscent of the much better classic My Dinner with Andre, this mildly interesting, low-budget, two-actor drama is an optional purchase. (F. Gardner)