It's always nice when things happen to come full circle, especially in a relationship. It gives an illusion of order to the chaos and randomness of a world full of millions of that could possibly bring two total strangers, like Dave and me, together. Such is the coincidental case of The Dinner Game. Last summer, Dave was courting me, wooing me, romancing me. He was "lovesick" (as he puts it) over me. And I, well I was being an idiot. When I wasn't being an idiot, I happened to tell him that he simply had to watch The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3 before the surely horrible John Travolta remake came out later that summer. And when I heard that the upcoming movie Dinner For Schmucks was a remake of an old favorite of mine The Dinner Game, well, history was about to repeat itself—only this time around (as I write this days before our one year anniversary yikes!) I think it's safe to say we're both pretty lovesick.
I have big soft spot for French films that I've stumbled into over the last 10 years of so. It makes me wish that I had taken French in high school instead of Spanish. It makes me want to go back to Paris, even though my first trip (and only) at 16 with my mom was a minor disaster. I've also told Dave on more than one occasion that I'm pretty sure that in a past life I was a Parisian "kept woman". (Yes, the fact that he's still with me is amazing to me too.)
Like similar films from my list thus far, one of the things I loved about this movie was it showed me I could enjoy a film on the periphery. That I could sit through a simple movie with subtitles and enjoy the humor the same way I would if it had been in English. Now, I hadn't seen TDG since high school. I hoped it was as charming and funny as I had remembered, but the last French films I'd coaxed Dave into watching (The Dreamers, Amelie, and even 2 Days In Paris) didn't go over so well. Dave might be the guy I've ever met, not to be in complete adoration of Audrey Tatau as quirky Amelie; but Dave's not like most guys I've ever met.
Netflix's description:
Writer-director Francis Veber's clever comedy shadows a group of French intellectuals who gather each Wednesday night for a dinner game, in which the challenge is to bring along the most idiotic guest. Pierre (Thierry Lhermitte) thinks he's found a ringer in François (Jacques Villeret), a civil servant whose passion is making architectural models out of matchsticks. But Pierre gets more than he bargained for when François becomes his houseguest.It was comforting to know that I still have the same sense of humor I had at 16. I still adore Jacques Villeret and his sad dog face. It was comforting to know that Dave wasn't too annoyed with my constant parroting and butchering of French names and pronunciations for the rest of the afternoon. "Monsieur Brochant! Monsieur Brochant! Monsieur Pignon! Monsieur Pignon!" Dave said he really enjoyed it. And I feel like I got double bonus points for this one, because when Dave mentioned that he and I had watched TDG to a friend of his known for his incredibly discerning taste, this friend said "Oh wow, that's a great movie!" Yeaaaah!
And while I'm sure Dave won't be nervous when he picks me up to see Dinner For Schmucks like he was when we went to see the Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3 remake, and I won't be wondering the whole movie if he'll kiss me goodnight; I'll still do one last look in the mirror to check my face before I open the front door. Because like the classic flick like Singin' In The Rain, there are some things in life that go too right the first time around to ever recreate with a new cast or director; and that might be the case with this one. But I guess we'll just have to see.
A scene from The Dinner Game (untranslated so for those of you who are not French speakers there is no spoiler alert).
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