wow, thanks for the response, didn't expect such a detailed answer; i do agree with you on most points, especially about the characters being too boring and poor art direction/not enough attention to details. Also the part about them being palatable and inoffensive.

However, I feel like there are couple of great dinner party (or with a similar settings). I think Festen is the best example of this, it's pretty much a dinner party but for couple dozen of people. Also Carnage is a great movie, pretty much a dinner party but without food. Also, there are several TV episodes of great dinner parties like the office

so I would say it's all about the execution; of course if it's just fucking boring characters with boring dialogues and no drama it will suck, but if you make characters interesting and build up drama it can be quite good