The Dinner Game

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Nathalie C To be watch in French obviously. I watch it so many times and still enjoy it. A classic. Merci 🙏 Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/26/22 Full Review Audience Member It was decent I guess. Maréne is a terrible actor and the main guy forgets his back hurts. The idiot is good, but the rest is decent or below. The sets are nothing special, it looks pretty low budget. It often fails while trying to be funny. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member I shouldn’t like The Dinner Game, it goes against all logic. This is the French original that spun off into Dinner for Schmucks, a movie I greatly disliked because it was so mean-spirited and tortured the main character mercilessly, which are things I find hard to handle. Not only that, but this movie doesn’t include the actual dinner party, which is the one scene I actually liked from Dinner for Schmucks. So, why in the world was I laughing so much at this version? First of all, unlike Paul Rudd who plays a guy who is somewhat likable, Thierry Lhermitte’s character is a complete jerk. He’s the kind of person you want to see tortured for his actions. In fact, there is not much redemption for his character in the film, so I didn’t mind when the agony kept coming. Also, there’s a sweet innocence to Jacques Villeret that I didn’t feel as much from Steve Carell. Finally, the presence of a friend in Francis Huster, who was visibly laughing as things continued to get worse, kind of gave me permission to find the humor in things as well. The Dinner Game is a simple film that takes place almost entirely in one room. I appreciate the charm of that, and can see this would work brilliantly as a stage production with the right cast. The magic of the film comes from the fact that Jacques Villeret’s performance as the idiot is just grounded enough that it feels believable. The situations he stumbles into often feel like the kind of mistakes someone could make if they were a bit clumsy or easily distracted. He’s not so over-the-top insane that it makes the whole film feel like a strange fantasy world, but he’s just odd enough that you wonder if anyone could be that scatterbrained. I was also impressed how much humor they were able to create in this film almost exclusively with phone conversations. There is only a smattering of physical comedy, and the rest of the magic is created through just words from both sides of a telephone call. It’s not one of the greatest comedies I’ve ever seen, but I was pleasantly surprised by The Dinner Game. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/24/20 Full Review Audience Member The farcical screenplay is far from the definition of finesse, as it moves in a rather familiar, generic area of comedy and wears its symbolisms on its forehead. Still, it remains pretty enjoyable thanks to the convincing acting and the small duration. Yet the ending is that sort of unbelievably clichéd, shout-at-the-screen-inducing resolution that you'd expect would only appear on the Hollywood remake as a sacrilege to the more sophisticated French original. Well... sophisticated my ass. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member Strong, likeable lead characters and an intriguing premise allow Le Dîner De Cons to become a success in not only the French comedic genre, but as a good piece of filmography. It's supported by a snappy runtime and genuine laughs... Without giving in to some good drama as well. Verdict: A- Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member While the film definitely has that "this was definitely based on a play" feeling going on the whole time, what a magnificently funny and delightful play it is. Don't miss it. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Dinner Game

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