My Dinner with Andre (1981)

Two old friends meet for dinner; as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.

Director:

Louis Malle

Writers:

Wallace Shawn (screenplay), Andre Gregory (screenplay)

Stars:

Andre Gregory, Wallace Shawn, Jean Lenauer

2 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Andre Gregory	...	Andre Gregory
Wallace Shawn	...	Wallace Shawn
Jean Lenauer	...	Waiter
Roy Butler	...	Bartender

Storyline

Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory, apparently playing themselves, share their lives over the course of an evening meal at a restaurant. Gregory, a theater director from New York, is the more talkative of the pair. He relates to Shawn his tales of dropping out, traveling around the world, and experiencing the variety of ways people live, such as a monk who could balance his entire weight on his fingertips. Shawn listens avidly, but questions the value of Gregory's seeming abandonment of the pragmatic aspects of life.

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Plot Keywords:

dialogue driven | restaurant | two hander | cult favorite | coffee | 

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

11 October 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

My Dinner with André

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,073, 16 May 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$5,250,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Saga Productions Inc.,The Andre Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the movie Wally and Andre specifically mention electric blankets as one of the negative examples of technology in the modern world. As it turned out, because of the overly cold set they had to work on, many of the cast and crew resorted to using them to stay warm.

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Goofs

In some of the scenes where the back of Wally's head facing the camera, the shadow of the boom mic can be seen reflected on Wally's bald head.

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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 try 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.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return: The Beast of Hollow Mountain (2017)

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Soundtracks

First Gymnopédie
Written by Erik Satie
Performed by Joseph Villa
[performed over the end credits]

User Reviews

Existential Paradox becomes Celluloid

MY DINNER WITH ANDRE is one of the greatest movies of all time because it works on a seemingly infinite number of levels. Yet at the same time it is one of the biggest failures in film because it only succeeds in connecting to the most insightful of its audience. The resulting paradox only serves to prove the film's lesson to be true. Brilliant!

This is either a movie you will turn off after fifteen minutes, or it is a movie you will watch over and over again to pick up all the things you missed in previous screenings. The former will be bored and lost by the endless, meaningless talk. The latter will find gold in every word, and veins left to be mined time after time.

In simple terms, the question is understood "If life is a stage, are you going to be an actor, a director, or a playwright?" It is the viewer's choice. Wally is a struggling playwright who has fallen back on acting. Andre is a former actor and director who has left the theatre entirely. Wally and Andre meet for dinner, and Andre recounts his experiences since leaving the theatre.

But one of the ironies is that their dinner itself is theatre, and both Andre and Wally have roles to fill. [Notice they wrote the script and use their real names. They are not playing characters. They are necessarily playing themselves.] And summarily the viewer also has a role to fill. If life is a stage, viewing the theatre is in itself theatre. The viewer is now in a place of choosing the role. And will that choice be made mechanically or deliberately? Mechanics is acting. Deliberation is playwrighting.

This is a brilliant, brilliant film. One of the greatest movies of all time. And its resolve is purely subjective to the individual viewer. The goal is to deliberate and come away enlightened (literally). Unfortunately the majority of viewers will act mechanically and turn it off.