My Dinner with Andre (Malle, 1981)

[madali]

My Dinner with Andre (Louis Malle, 1981)

When I was a teenager, me and my friends would sit down and make up stories among ourselves, based on actual events that had happened to us, exaggerating it until it had a comical twist to it. We found it hilarious and would sometimes imagine that a movie based on our discussions would be great, because of our good our talks were.

We were young, and everyone probably thinks their lives deserve to be repeated to others and their talks recorded in history. But deep down, most of us also know that it’s not really that interesting to others. Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn do not come to that conclusion.

Andy and Wallace usually sit down and have discussions and they are so impressed by their own talks that they believe it is something that everyone should be share in it. So, they make a movie based on it. A movie just about the two sitting in a restaurant and just talking.

Why would I enjoy a trite like this? I have friends. I am smart. I have had interesting and passionate talks constantly in my life. I am surprised that anyone would like this movie, and I ask myself, don’t these people have interesting friends in their lives? Are they so boring that they can only be stimulated by someone else’s discussions? Because the movie has no real plot, no real story, just a discussion between two people about subjects that I have had millions of times in my life over drinks.

If a scriptwriter has a philosophical idea to discuss, let him weave it into a story. If he thinks his ideas are so smart that it is enough just to TELL ME STRAIGHT, than I prefer that he write it in a book. The only times I enjoy such discussions are if I am involved in it myself and I have drinks in my hand. To passively watch two other people talk and be fully sober is a shit experience.

1/5

[kaytee]

After the Community episode I had this on my to-watch list, guess not anymore.

[madali]

It was always on my to-watch list, but Community pushed me to it too! hah

[X.]

I actually despise this film. It's bloated and the talk is only conceptually interesting. But there *is* a better way to make this kind of film...

With the exception of PRETTY BABY, Louis Malle's work in America is really inconsistent. DAMAGE was a nice treat though; a terrific exploration of the idea of sexual obsession.