Le Dîner de Cons (1998)

To amuse themselves at a weekly dinner, a few well-heeled folk each bring a dimwit along who is to talk about his pastime. Each member seeks to introduce a champion dumbbell. Pierre, an ... See full summary »

Director:

Francis Veber

Writer:

Francis Veber

Stars:

Thierry Lhermitte, Jacques Villeret, Francis Huster

5 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Thierry Lhermitte	...	Pierre Brochant
Jacques Villeret	...	François Pignon
Francis Huster	...	Juste Leblanc
Daniel Prévost	...	Lucien Cheval
Alexandra Vandernoot	...	Christine Brochant
Catherine Frot	...	Marlène Sasseur
Benoît Bellal	...	Host 1
Jacques Bleu	...	Host 3
Philippe Brigaud	...	Tanner (boomerang thrower)
Michel Caccia	...	Guest 1
Laurent Gendron	...	Guest 2
Mykhaël Georges-Schar	...	Host 2
Edgar Givry	...	Cordier
Pierre-Arnaud Juin	...	Boissonade
Daniel Martin	...	Messignac

Storyline

To amuse themselves at a weekly dinner, a few well-heeled folk each bring a dimwit along who is to talk about his pastime. Each member seeks to introduce a champion dumbbell. Pierre, an avid participant of the game, runs into one problem after another that devilishly compromises his secrets, turning the tables on him and his objective, which diverges as the movie progresses. Firstly, wishing to be certain he has selected a winner, he invited his guest, Mr. Pignon, to meet him at home before setting off; but night of all nights, Pierre has put his back out and it is questionable whether he can manage to get to the dinner. The blundering Mr. Pignon will continually spring forward to help relieve Pierre of his troubles, which have drastically compounded, pointing in the direction of friends, taxes and women, and Pierre's dimwit Pignon accordingly will prove his substance to the end.

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Plot Keywords:

dinner | telephone call | paris france | dinner party | publishing | 

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Taglines:

A feast for the senseless.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

15 April 1998 (France)

Also Known As:

Le Dîner de Cons

Filming Locations:

Evecquemont, Yvelines, France

Box Office

Budget:

FRF 82,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$306,283, 23 October 1998

Gross USA:

$4,065,116, 5 December 1999

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaumont,EFVE,TF1 Films Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min 75 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Francis Veber's play premiered at the Théâtre des Variétés on 17-9-1993. Jacques Villeret played Pignon 600 times.

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Goofs

At the beginning, the train has two locomotives, then with four, then back to two.

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Quotes

Christine Brochant: Are you the one who was supposed to be dining with him tonight?
François Pignon: Yes, how did you know? Did he talk about me?
Christine Brochant: Yes, but even without that, I would have recognized you.

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Connections

Referenced in The Holiday (2006)

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Soundtracks

Le temps ne fait rien à l'affaire
Written by Georges Brassens
Performed by Georges Brassens
© 1961 Editions musicales 57

User Reviews

Hilarios and slightly poignant

This is a very intelligent, hilarious, and slightly poignant movie. The 'dinner' of the title is a regular gathering at which some smug young Parisian gentlemen compete to invite the most amusingly ridiculous character as their guest. Pierre Brochant (Thierry Lhermitte) believes he has a sure winner in François Pignon (played brilliantly by Jacques Villeret) whose passion is the construction of intricate models from matchsticks. Ironically, it is Brochant who ends up looking the fool, morally if not intellectually. And it is the slightly sad but hilarious antihero Pignon who emerges as far the wiser of the two. Despite the premise, which seems to offends some delicate souls, this is a very humane, as well as witty, movie.