Before there was the counterculture of the '60s, there was the "counter" culture. Fries with gravy, a cherry cola, friendship, bragging rights, and "does Sinatra or Mathis croon the best make-out music?" From his Oscar-nominated script, Barry Levinson makes his directorial debut with this endearing study of five friends in transition. Steve Guttenberg, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon, Timothy Daly and Paul Reiser, chosen from over 600 hopefuls, play the up-all-night buddies who work out the remnants of adolescence during ritual hangouts at a busy steel and vinyl diner in 1959 Baltimore. Also starring Ellen Barkin, who makes her big-screen debut as a neglected wife. With stars, laughs, sharp dialogue, and interlocking stories, entertainment is the daily special in Diner.