My Dinner with Andre

Like the listeners at the feet of a master storyteller, we find ourselves visualizing what Gregory describes, until this film is as filled with visual images as a radio play—more filled, perhaps, than a conventional feature film. Read full review

A picture that represents so much of what I want and rarely get from a movie -- a couple of hours filled with characters who are as exciting as the people I know in real life. [11 Dec 1981]

Their talk feels as unforced as it is intense, but even that’s an illusion piled on top of an illusion. The film keeps returning to questions about the nature of reality and the function of performance, whether in theater or in everyday life. Read full review

It's a riveting, provocative film that rewards several viewings. Read full review

Riveting, exhilarating stuff. Read full review

A unique and provocative film, ironic, funny, crazy and moving. [26 Oct 1981, p.78]

An intimate theater piece conceived for the movies, My Dinner With Andre illustrates how much human interest, entertainment value and even philosophical inquiry can be derived from a situation as static as a dinner conversation. It should also prove a great incentive for dining out and shooting the bull in general. [19 Jan 1982, p.D3]

This is a bizarre and surprisingly entertaining satirical comedy--the story of the search beyond theatre turned into theatre, or, at least, into a movie.

The fact that people don’t talk like this in real life isn’t a flaw in the film: It’s a tragic social deficiency. Read full review

The synthesis is a revealing and extremely funny portrait of urban schizophrenia in the waning years of the twentieth century. [21 May 1982]

It'll never be fast food, which is probably both its virtue and limitation. [26 June 2009, p.12D]

It's the achievement of Mr. Malle, the director of Atlantic City, Pretty Baby and a lot of other very fine, conventional movies, that he has successfully turned his two real-life personalities into actors capable of representing themselves. Read full review

A completely merited cult favourite of the avant-garde genre. This is surprisingly compelling in places. Read full review

An overlong but mainly captivating conversation, consisting largely of stream of consciousness monologs by Gregory. Read full review

Louis Malle's somewhat overrated My Dinner With Andre is a filmed conversation between two friends, and whether you find the movie profound, pretentious, or entertaining will depend on how interesting you find the talk. Read full review