The Dinner Game Rated NR Universal

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IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Well-crafted situational comedy is some of the hardest and most complicated kind of writing one can possibly attempt. And in the case of The Dinner Game, written and directed by Frances Veber (La Cage Aux Folles), the script is nothing short of superb. Each week, Pierre (Thierry Lhermitte) and his friends host a dinner where they compete to see who can bring to biggest "idiot" to the table. When Pierre meets Pignon (Jacques Villeret), an accountant whose hobbies include making matchstick models of famous landmarks, he feels sure he's got a winner on his hands. However, when Pierre wrenches his back playing golf he finds himself unable to attend the dinner, his doctor confining him to his apartment. Pignon then shows up at Pierre's apartment some minutes Pierre's wife has left him and the scene is set for one of the cleverest comedies to have been released in the last few years. With payoffs that match the setups and a continually escalating importance to all the events in The Dinner Game, I found Veber's latest film enjoyable almost to perfection.