My Dinner with Andre (1981)

Director:

Louis Malle

Writers:

Andre Gregory (writer)
Wallace Shawn (writer)

Release Date:

11 October 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory, apparently playing themselves, share their lives over the course of an evening meal at a restaurant...

Plot Keywords:

Restaurant | Minimal Cast | UFO | Quail | All Male Cast

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Wallace Shawn	...	Wally Shawn
Andre Gregory	...	Andre Gregory
Jean Lenauer	...	Waiter
Roy Butler	...	Bartender

Also Known As:

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Jefferson Hotel - 101 W. Franklin Street, Richmond, Virginia, USA

Company:

Saga Productions Inc.

Trivia:

The low-budget flick was shot in an abandoned hotel in Virginia - in the winter. "Since we didn't have the money to heat the hotel, (producer Beverly Karp) brought me a bit of cognac from time to time," recalls a co-producer. The crew kept warm by wearing ski clothes; the actors just had to act warm, aided by the lights and long underwear.

Goofs:

Continuity: The amount of wine in Wallace Shawn's glass varies in a manner not consistent with his drinking from it (or having it refilled).

Quotes:

[first lines]
Wally:The life of a playwright is tough. It's not easy as some people seem to think. You work hard writing plays and nobody puts them on. You take up other lines of work to make a living - I became an actor - and people don't hire you. So you just spend your days doing the errands of your trade.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Cheers: Friends, Romans, and Accountants (#1.7)" (1982)

Soundtrack:

Gymnopedie 1

A mighty interesting dinner

Wally Shawn is about to meet a friend he has avoided for several years, Andre Gregory. He has apparently gone mad. The interesting thing is that Shawn and Gregory plays himself, they themselves wrote the script and what they say are supposedly parts of conversations they have actually had over the years.

With this in mind you should already know that you are about to encounter something out of the ordinary.

If you take away the journey to and from the restaurant, which can't have taken up more than a few minutes, all the action takes place around a table. The title says it all. This is Wally dinner with Others. The excitement lies in the words coming out of their mouths, and fortunately their conversation is extremely interesting.

At the beginning it seems like Andre is a maniac, just some crazy person babbling on about nonsense. However, at some point things are starting to make more and more sense. Threads are merged and a serious and highly relevant discussion about life and the roles we play occurs.

The film was never boring and most of what comes up is something to think about. You get this strange "tell me more" feeling, which so few other movies do, or even try to achieve. A very special film I would most warmly recommend.