My Dinner with Andre

Amazon.com

The sheer audacity of My Dinner with Andre drew throngs of curious filmgoers who made the film the most talked-about art-house hit of 1981. After all, who'd ever heard of a movie consisting of nearly two hours of nonstop dinner conversation? Ah... but this isn't just any conversation--it's the kind of mesmerizing, soul-searching, life-affirming exploration that we feel privileged to listen to, and with unobtrusive style, director Louis Malle invites us to eavesdrop to our hearts' and minds' content. The film was written by two New Yorkers at the dinner table, noted playwright-actor Wallace Shawn and well-known stage director Andre Gregory, who essentially play themselves. They taped their conversations for several weeks and Shawn gradually shaped them into a scripted conversation, but you'd never know it from watching the movie. The talk flows and flows until you're captivated by Gregory's stories of world travel and spiritual quests in Poland, India, Tibet, the Sahara desert... the tales of a soul-searcher who'd dropped out of the theater world to rediscover his zest for living. Shawn plays the skeptic, the voice of reason, his feet on the ground but his own mind willing to soar. The cumulative effect of this conversation is almost hypnotic, and certainly plays into our eternal appetite for storytelling. Both primal and sophisticated, witty and profound, My Dinner with Andre is a film that can be savored over time, offering new revelations with each viewing as the listener-viewer develops his or her own appreciation of life's great mysteries. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

My EVOLVING Dinner with Andre.......2007-08-11

I have loved this movie since I first saw it on PBS in Los Angeles (well, Downey, actually, but the PBS station was in Los Angeles). And I am glad, now, that I bought my DVD from AMAZON before inflation set in because I could never afford to lay out $135.00 even for THIS movie. (Get the VHS until someone re-releases it on DVD---Wally doesn't need the money what with THE HAUNTED MANSION and THE PRINCESS BRIDE and the new JACK AND THE BEANSTALK. But if you absolutely HAVE to have a DVD of this and just can't wait and you can AFFORD this price...it isn't a waste.
And I'll tell you why. This is a VERY unusual movie. It is a film that functions much like "The Alexandria Quartet" by Lawrence Durrell.
The reason I say that is not because these two masterworks have anything in common plotwise. It is because a slight shift of perspective (which is what Durrell was playing with through his work) brings you to a different experience of the film.
When I first saw this film I was still pretty much the hippie and I was DOWN with Andre Gregory. I mean, I'd travelled around through the 60s and 70s---hung out with people like Alan Watts and Terrence McKenna, devoured books like THE MASTER GAME by de Ropp and BE HERE NOW by Ram Dass and IN SEARCH OF THE MIRACULOUS by Ouspensky and I knew all about Findhorn and all of that so I KNEW what Gregory was getting at. And Wallace Shawn was (to my perception at the time) a sweet guy but definitely L-7, you know? Squaresville...one of the "Mundanes".
Okay that was my initial reaction.
Then enter the time factor. I am a couple of decades older now and I suddenly realized, the last time I dug out my DVD and watched it, that I am beginning to see more of Wally's side of the argument than I used to. I mean, I don't suddenly think Andre Gregory is a complete loon...I'm still down with his rap...but I also see (and what is more UNDERSTAND) where Wally is coming from. And then, as I thought about it, I suddenly realized it isn't an either/or situation. One of them isn't right and the other wrong. They are BOTH right. There is a time for spiritual questing and a time for warming oneself before the fire and both things are good in their time. This is an amazing movie...no...it is an amazing FILM. You need to get this.My Dinner with Andre

One of the best films ever made .......2007-07-18

This film is almost impossible to review since it covers so many important aspects of life. It is one of the greatest dialouges ever written, and should be required reading or watching for any one studying philosophy, logic and arguments, science, religion, sociology, or any other related science or area of inquiry. The two characters in the film exchange through conversation probably the most candid and honest discussions on most all of the issues we all deal with in life. The issue of New Age vs. rational science is a main theme, as well as the states of the human condition in the western world vs. other cultures. One must watch the film at least three times to really get it all, and be patient during the first 45 minutes, since some may find the beginning monologue too long. The most engaging part is when the two of them go back and forth, this is not to say the initial monologues by Andre is not interesting - it is. BTW, the DVD is not copy protected, so I suggest buying it - even if it is going for alot - simply copy it and resell it to get your money back!

Theatre of Life.......2007-07-05

Wallace Shawn plays the daffy everyman, while his sophisticated friend, Andre Gregory, plays the suave artist turned philosopher. It is, among other things, one of the most persuasive acting and writing jobs of our time. One believes these people totally, not suspecting all along that Shawn is in fact an erudite, sophisticated artist of exquisite taste and intelligence. Still, he plays the hungry boob who quotes Heidegger in one breath, while claiming to prefer comfort to change and to need his electric blanket to protect him on chilly nights. Forget about the content, these are two brilliant performances (if you've seen the film) and an equally stunning script. Of course, the bulk of the dialog goes to Gregory who is provided a great set of monologues, linked by Shawn's words of encouragement ("Tell me more. Yes, go on."). We read marvelous passages of poetic prose, describing weird theater games and odd, often frightening, therapeutic experiences, which had the effect of making Gregory a better man, or so he thinks. Shawn then gives us his take on the phony baloney, and we are now aware that on top of everything else, this is one of the funniest exchanges since Groucho Marx took on modern academe. The script is a jewel, the film a gem. Malle has directed brilliantly,. The setting is perfect, the ride through the streets of New York simply magical.

I'm still waiting for my 'Andre' action figures to come out...great film............2007-06-19

Pardon the shameless reference to the epilogue of WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, where Corky St. Clair (Christopher Guest) produces two plastic reproductions of the rotund, balding Wallace Shawn and the tall, intellectual Andre Gregory, as part of his collection of film memorabilia. Was this ironic, considering that MY DINNER WITH ANDRE is two hours centered around these two men having an engrossing conversation about life, existentialism and the numerous global treks that Andre Gregory had the privilege to take? Yes, it was, a bit, but you really have to see this film to understand just what subtle (and effective) tribute mockumentarian Christopher Guest was paying to a film rich with intelligence, broad wit and humor and engaging writing. The title says it all. Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory sit together and have a meal, candidly discussing the state of their lives. We feel like as though we're at the table with them, too. The film is intimate and inclusive of the audience, all the while allowing the characters to shape the story through their exchanges. Ultimately, this dinner is a very profound experience. It makes me think of the times I have really had a chance to sit down with an old friend, rehash old times through the exchange of memories, and then trade our perspectives through lively discussion. The number of people I feel I can do this I am able to count on one hand, and, no doubt, the characters we are seeing feel the same way toward each other--without flash, computer-generated graphics, violence, gratuitous sex or voyeurism. Never has the addage "less is more" been so truly (and beautifully) conveyed in a film. Don't miss out on this one.

Unique movie, thoughtful and penetrating........2007-05-18

This is a truly unique film which works so well because of it's honesty and simplicity. It consists entirely of a discussion between a struggling playwright and a successful theatre producer (Andre) over dinner. It sounds as though it would necessarily be boring and pretentious. The quiet intensity of their conversation however keeps the viewer riveted throughout. Roger Ebert I think called it the one movie entirely free of cliches. While the movie is free of posturing it is largely about how we all posture and become "actors" in our lives to an extent that we can fail to see reality as it is. A brilliant movie.

DVD:

DVD

DVD