A perfectly entertaining little French comedy that doesn't quite lodge in your brain in the way you hope it would.
The Dinner Game(Le Dîner de cons)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
France · 1998
Rated PG · 1h 20m
Director Francis Veber
Starring Thierry Lhermitte, Jacques Villeret, Francis Huster, Daniel Prévost
Genre Comedy
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
For Pierre and his friends, Wednesday is “Idiots' Day.” The idea is simple: each person has to bring along an idiot. The one who brings the most spectacular idiot wins the prize. Tonight, Pierre has found a gem, the ultimate idiot, “A world champion idiot!” What Pierre doesn’t know is that Pignon is a past master in the art of bringing on catastrophes...
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
There are times when the comedy works, but the number of genuinely amusing sequences are outnumbered by those that, in trying to generate laughter, simply seem silly.
Chicago Tribune by John Petrakis
The Dinner Game works thanks to some exceptionally strong acting, impeccable timing and rapid-fire delivery of many funny lines.
Chicago Reader by Lisa Alspector
Shtick isn't all this movie has to offer.
Abetted by an excellent cast, vet writer Weber weaves a simple premise into comedy gold.
TV Guide Magazine by Maitland McDonagh
This stage-bound farce could easily be an American sitcom: It's all slamming doors, eavesdropping and stupid miscommunications, garnished with a heavy-handed helping of comedy of humiliation.
Just a plain old fun movie.
Adapted from a long-running stage play, The Dinner Game has been refined to peak comic efficiency, with every misunderstanding and hare-brained scheme neatly cascading into bigger and bigger catastrophes.
Users who liked this film also liked
Jean de Florette
When Jean de Florette inherits land in Provence, he decides to take up farming. But his scheming neighbors have other plans…
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Switzerland, Italy • 1986
- Director Claude Berri
- Cast Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Elisabeth Depardieu, Margarita Lozano, Ernestine Mazurowna
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Ruby & Quentin
(Tais-toi !)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy • 2003
- Director Francis Veber
- Cast Gérard Depardieu, Jean Reno, Richard Berry, André Dussollier, Jean-Pierre Malo, Leonor Varela
- Genre Comedy, Crime
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Welcome to the Sticks
(Bienvenue chez les ch'tis)
After being banished to Northern France, public servant Phillipe struggles to live in the foreign and unfamiliar town of Bergues.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2008
- Director Dany Boon
- Cast Kad Merad, Dany Boon, Zoé Félix, Lorenzo Ausilia-Foret, Anne Marivin, Philippe Duquesne
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, VUDU Free, Kanopy, Hoopla, Plex, Plex Channel
Don't Look Now... We're Being Shot At!
(La Grande Vadrouille)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, United Kingdom • 1966
- Director Gérard Oury
- Cast Bourvil, Louis de Funès, Terry-Thomas, Claudio Brook, Mike Marshall, Marie Dubois
- Genre Comedy, War
- Available on No streaming locations found.
The Cabbage Soup
(La Soupe aux choux)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1981
- Director Jean Girault
- Cast Louis de Funès, Jean Carmet, Jacques Villeret, Claude Gensac, Christine Dejoux, Henri Génès
- Genre Comedy, Science Fiction
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Little Indian, Big City
(Un Indien dans la Ville)
The city is a jungle. Some are just better prepared for it, than others.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1994
- Director Hervé Palud
- Cast Thierry Lhermitte, Patrick Timsit, Ludwig Briand, Miou-Miou, Arielle Dombasle, Sonia Vollereaux
- Genre Adventure, Drama, Family, Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
A Pain in the Ass
(L'Emmerdeur)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy • 1973
- Director Édouard Molinaro
- Cast Lino Ventura, Jacques Brel, Caroline Cellier, Jean-Pierre Darras, Nino Castelnuovo, Michele Gammino
- Genre Comedy, Crime
- Available on Kino Film Collection
The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe
(Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1972
- Director Yves Robert
- Cast Pierre Richard, Bernard Blier, Jean Rochefort, Mireille Darc, Colette Castel, Jean Obé
- Genre Comedy, Mystery
- Available on Darkroom
Santa Claus Is a Stinker
(Le Père Noël est une ordure)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1982
- Director Jean-Marie Poiré
- Cast Christian Clavier, Anémone, Marie-Anne Chazel, Thierry Lhermitte, Josiane Balasko, Gérard Jugnot
- Genre Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Fear City: A Family-Style Comedy
(La Cité de la peur)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1994
- Director Alain Berbérian
- Cast Chantal Lauby, Alain Chabat, Dominique Farrugia, Gérard Darmon, Sam Karmann, Jean-Christophe Bouvet
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Kanopy
La Chèvre
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Mexico, Malta • 1981
- Director Francis Veber
- Cast Pierre Richard, Gérard Depardieu, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Corynne Charbit, Michel Robin, André Valardy
- Genre Comedy, Crime, Adventure
- Available on Kino Film Collection, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Hoopla
RRRrrrr!!!
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2004
- Director Alain Chabat
- Cast Maurice Barthélemy, Marina Foïs, Elise Larnicol, Pierre-François Martin-Laval, Jean-Paul Rouve, Pascal Vincent
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube
The Sucker
(Le Corniaud)
The funniest fraud a fall-guy ever fell for!
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy, Spain • 1965
- Director Gérard Oury
- Cast Bourvil, Louis de Funès, Venantino Venantini, Henri Génès, Lando Buzzanca, Jacques Eyser
- Genre Comedy, Crime
- Available on Kanopy
Fugitives
(Les Fugitifs)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1986
- Director Francis Veber
- Cast Pierre Richard, Gérard Depardieu, Jean Carmet, Maurice Barrier, Jean Benguigui, Roland Blanche
- Genre Comedy, Crime
- Available on No streaming locations found.
French Fried Vacation 2: The Bronzés go Skiing
(Les Bronzés font du ski)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1979
- Director Patrice Leconte
- Cast Thierry Lhermitte, Marie-Anne Chazel, Michel Blanc, Josiane Balasko, Christian Clavier, Gérard Jugnot
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Kanopy
Didier
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Belgium, Switzerland • 1997
- Director Alain Chabat
- Cast Jean-Pierre Bacri, Alain Chabat, Isabelle Gélinas, Lionel Abelanski, Caroline Cellier, Chantal Lauby
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Gramps Is in the Resistance
(Papy fait de la résistance)
Le film qui a coûté plus cher que le débarquement!
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1983
- Director Jean-Marie Poiré
- Cast Christian Clavier, Michel Galabru, Gérard Jugnot, Martin Lamotte, Dominique Lavanant, Jacqueline Maillan
- Genre Comedy, War
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Iznogoud
- ✭ ✭
- France • 2005
- Director Patrick Braoudé
- Cast Michaël Youn, Jacques Villeret, Fred Jaspart, Franck Dubosc, Arno Chevrier, Elsa Pataky
- Genre Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
A Crime in Paradise
(Un crime au Paradis)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2001
- Director Jean Becker
- Cast Jacques Villeret, Josiane Balasko, André Dussollier, Suzanne Flon, Gérard Hernandez, Roland Magdane
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Princes and Princesses
(Princes et Princesses)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2000
- Director Michel Ocelot
- Cast Yves Barsacq, Philippe Cheytion, Arlette Mirapeu, François Voisin
- Genre Drama, Animation, Fantasy, Comedy, Family, Romance, Mystery, Adventure
- Available on No streaming locations found.