The Dinner Game Reviews

First of all, it is interesting to point out that the original title literal translation is not ‘the Dinner game’ or ‘Dinner of Schmucks’ but in fact ‘The Dinner of Cunts’. I always found it pretty nice that the French were never too skirmish to put a naked lady of some really foul language on their movie posters. Anyway, when I lived in France, this movie was a huge success when it was released. Personally, except for the rather subversive title, I didn't care much about the whole thing as it looked really stupid and it took me a while to finally watch it. If I'm not mistaken, the first time I eventually saw it, I was completely stoned out of my mind so I wasn't really able to judge it. Eventually, I saw it a second time around and I thought it was actually not bad at all. I mean, don't misunderstand me, it was far from being a masterpiece whatsoever but I have to admit it , it was indeed pretty funny. It is above all thanks to the late Jacques Villeret that it did work. Indeed, all the other characters were rather spineless and uninteresting but he managed to make his character stupid but somehow also friendly and above all constantly hilarious. Later on, they would make an American remake called ‘Dinner of Schmucks’ but even though they cast Steve Carell as the new ‘cunt’, it was really underwhelming. To conclude, even though I don’t think it was really great at all, this original version was still a solid comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.

Very enjoyable French farce in which a hapless tax inspector who likes to build world landmarks from matchsticks is unwittingly invited to a “dinner for idiots” by a rather mean businessman. In this classic story, Brochant, the businessman, stands to win a significant bet by bringing the most idiotic guest, and believes that Pignon will earn him the prize.
Unfortunately, things do not go as planned and Pignon ends up spending an evening of misadventures with Brochant where each man learns a lot about the other.

The star of the show is easily Jacques Villeret as the dunderhead Pignon. Although he’s hapless and hopeless there is something charming about him and you root for him to overcome Brochant’s bigotry, but you certainly wouldn’t want him anywhere near your affairs.

The film is at its best when the situation starts to escalate within Brochant’s apartment (which the film barely leaves), where Pignon’s actions infuriate and exasperate Brochant in increasing amounts, and his actions slowly ruin Brochant’s cosy if complicated life.

You can tell this has been adapted from a play as the action and limited locations do restrict the flow at times, but the acting and comedy is superbly timed and performed that you can forgive it this minor inflection.
Definitely invest your time in this version rather than the awful recent US remake.