The Dinner Game

Director: Francis Veber
Actors: Thierry Lhermitte, Jacques Villeret, Francis Huster, Daniel Prevost, Alexandra Vandernoot
Studio: Lions Gate
Category: DVD

List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $7.92
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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars 74 reviews
Sales Rank: 10784

Format: Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 72 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6

MPN: LGEDVM8457D
ISBN: 1588179036
UPC: 031398845720
EAN: 9781588179036
ASIN: B0000A1HQP

Theatrical Release Date: June 25, 1999
Release Date: August 19, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!
The Dinner Game

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Customer Reviews

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5 out of 5 stars Hilarious French Comedy    December 31, 2008
H. Berry (Scottsdale, AZ)
If you enjoy French comedies, as I do, and if you enjoyed The Valet and The Closet, also written and directed by Francis Veber, you will surely enjoy this clever and well crafted comedy.

Pierre Brochant, an upper middle class French publisher, participates in a weekly dinner party with several of his buddies in which they each invite an, unknowing, idiot to dinner for their amusement. It's not unlike the "Ugly Girl" contest they enjoyed in college.

Brochant invites Francois Pignon (a character that also appears in other Veber comedies), a model builder that makes models of engineering structures like the Eiffel Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge out of matchsticks, as his dinner guest.

Prior to dinner, Brochant asks Pignon to his elegant Paris apartment to get to know him better before displaying him at the "idiots' dinner". Unfortunately, Pignon arrives just as Brochant's wife walks out on him. Having had a similar experience, Pignon can empathize and sincerely tries to help his new friend.

Being the idiot that he is, Pignon continues to make matters worse for Brochant by his continuous and hilarious bungling. Pignon proves that he truly is an idiot although always sincere and well intentioned.

Along the way Pignon learns the true reason he was invited to dinner and is deeply hurt. Despite his humiliation and anger, Pignon is able to rise to the occasion and help is non-friend by convincing Brochant's wife on the phone to return to her husband. For that moment, Pignon is the smart one and Brochant realizes that he is the real idiot. But, will Pignon blow it; watch and find out.

The Dinner Game is really an enjoyable movie and well worth seeing. I highly recommend it.



5 out of 5 stars A Modern French Comedy With Classical Throwback    August 29, 2008
M. B. Handelsman (Brooklyn, NY USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

This comic masterpiece was as big a riot for me as it was in my first viewing some 7 years prior, and it does indeed recall the satire of Moliere. However, this time I started to find the cruelty in the premise gnawing a bit at my conscience. Perhaps it was the chance in a second viewing to study the characters more than the plot, whereby Monsieur Pignon appeared too affectionate and likeable to ridicule for sport. I might have even tweaked the ending to inflict the final comeuppance on Pierre with NO help from Pignon. Then I slapped myself in the face with a reminder that THIS IS AFTERALL JUST A FARCE, with Pignon in the end no less a fool than, say, Stan of "Laurel & Hardy" or Norton of "The Honeymooners". And no less so than previously, I found myself getting caught up in the sequence of comic errors that continued to build upon itself. The inclusion of Pignon's boss for collateral victimhood added an extra dimension to his role in that sequence. The most brilliantly crafted thread was the way Pierre's predicament was compounded with each acceptance of Pignon's helping hand! I'm putting aforementioned sensitivities aside in grading the movie for its content - a solid 5. But I do wonder how a Hollywood remake in these culturally sensitive times would tackle the premise - even in jest!




5 out of 5 stars Hilarious    February 29, 2008
Music Critic (Belmont, MA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

We rented it, but it is so brilliantly funny, we are buying it. Excellent script, acting and directing.


5 out of 5 stars This is a side splitter    February 26, 2008
Randolph Sinquefield (Pacific Palisades, Ca. USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Buy, rent, or watch this movie. It's freakin" hilarious. I'd never heard of it before, but now it belongs on the top shelf with of the rest of the classics. BTW, it doesn't hurt to speak french, but the movie's just as entertaining with subtitles.
Two thumbs up!
Randolph


3 out of 5 stars funny, but a renter    February 24, 2008
anothersara (Wisconsin)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful

I liked this movie; the story was good, the actors did a good job and I did laugh often. I recommend renting it, but not necessarily buying it.