My Dinner with Andre

I saw this movie in 1981 when it first came out. I was 31. (Don't know if that matters but it might.) I could barely stay in my seat. I wanted out so bad. All this taking. (I was not a talker. I didn't like talking. I didn't want to tell anyone anything about me.) No action in it. I like action. This movie went in my list of "good movies" (received well in the press) that I did not like.

It has bothered me for a long time that I didn't get what this movie was about and just watched it again at 71. I loved it. I could relate to both these guys. I enjoyed watching them react to one another. That's just me. Nothing wrong with hating it.

This is the tale of two different men: Andre, an avant-garde director, and Wally, a theatre actor and writer. They meet at a restaurant and philosophise and discuss a variety of subjects. The majority of the dialogue is spoken by Andre. He is a far more loquacious and complex character than Wally. Wally is a laconic and soft-spoken guy, who enjoys a simple life with his wife. His epitome of bliss is drinking a cold cup of coffee left from the night before, without finding a cockroach in it. Andre is an intense ponderer. He tells Wally the stories of his experiences travelling around the world, from his time spent in far flung places such as Scotland, Poland, India and Tibet. Andre gives the impression he is exaggerating at times. Is he fabricating some of the tales? He could be. Especially the ones where he claims he has seen monsters and weird creatures. The premise of two men conversing for 110 minutes at a dinner table is not going to be the most appealing film, but this film holds your attention and intrigues the viewer. You become involved with Andre's musings somehow, and just as fascinated as Wally is. A great piece of arresting cinema.

Just because a movie deals with philosophical and intellectual themes does not mean it's a great movie. While Gregory is great story teller his tales of psydo-pychadellic adventure get tiresome quickly. Had any of the scenes actually been acted out the audience would likely have found them too outlandish and unrealistic to be believable. Gregory's stories do however offer a much needed reprieve from Shawn's annoying world view and even more annoying voice. While I think that there are lessons in this film and think there's a lot of interesting points made, it's still not a great movie. The acting when not just expounding dialog is awful and awkward. Any part of the script that is not part of a story being told is very heavy handed.

This movie is mainly a conversation between 2 people. There isn't much music, barely any camera work, there actually is barely any acting because both actors play themselves!... it can barely be called a movie, but it still is one - and a very entertaining one at that. Both Actors have a gift for languages and are amazing story tellers. My native language is not English (you probably guessed it while reading this review), but even I have been amazed by the beautiful language and their amazing skill to talk.

From a philosophical point of view, there is nothing new. I heard all the thoughts before. - The great strengths of the movie is the way those ideas are expressed. Even the most simple thought is coated by meaningful and beautiful words. You almost feel enlightened while watching this movie! But after the movie is over, you realize, that you actually learned nothing. It still has been a great experience. And I wished that there'd be more movies like this one.

This is a very strange film, indeed. There are moments of profoundness, but for the most part there is a lot of nothing. However, I feel like it is worth watching for those few minutes that are absolute gold.