Un tonto a domicilio

When I saw the face of Steve Carrel in "The Dinner of Schmucks" remake, I knew they got the meaning of the word totally wrong, 'cons' is not about being retarded or eccentric, it's a state of mind, something that doesn't strike the eyes, not at first sight anyway.

"Con" is a generic insult in France that takes a lot of meanings, it either refers to a dumb or extremely naive person, a socially awkward geek, a dork, someone so blinded by a passion that he can't realize how ridicule he is in the eyes of common people, stupid is not the most faithful synonym, because a 'con' can have a high I.Q, but what do they all have in common, they don't have the intelligence of the situation, and are the target of mean-spirited people who use them as foils to appear smarter, and that they can easily be fooled allows society to label them as 'idiots'. This is sad but true, and Veber's "Diner de Cons" aka "The Dinner Game" builds its plot on a cruel purpose with mean spirited snobs inviting idiots to elect a winner at the end of the evening, and Thierry Lhermitte aka Pierre Brochant, a wealthy publisher, is one of these bad guys.

There is a French word to describe a man like Brochant, a 'salaud', a bastard if you prefer, a guy eager to make fun of less smart people, while the so-called Dinner Game can be seen as a tacit bullying, all these dumb-chasers would argue that they don't harm anyone because the purpose of the game is not to let the idiots know why they were invited. It's like 'a crime without victims'. And the players really take their hateful game seriously, each participant having a sort of scout to find the right idiot, either a colleague eager to express some 'new' ideas, a man with strange hobbies, finding a good idiot is not that an easy task. And one day, Brochant receives a phone call from a friend who found a 'world champion': Jacques Villeret as François Pignon, a civil servant working in the Minister of Treasury and building replicas of landmarks with matchsticks, what a promising pedigree!

Many people tend to minimize the emphasis on the word 'con' by arguing that we're all the idiots of someone. While it might be true, it doesn't appear to be the message of the film where the personality traits are clearly defined. While not a plain idiot, Pignon is a sweet and lovable buffoon and despite his meanness, Pierre Brochant strikes as a brilliant and intelligent person. The film doesn't try to reverse roles to demonstrate the former idea, and the lyrics of the opening song brilliantly deliver the message that age has nothing to do with brains, when we're an idiot; we're an idiot, period. The genius little song from George Brassens foreshadows the inevitability of the mayhem caused by François Pignon, directly affecting Pierre Brochant's life. And it all starts with the nice twist (indeed) when Brochant hurts his back while golfing and is forced to cancel his participation. After discovering how brilliantly dumb François Pignon is, he decides to go anyway, much to the reluctance of his wife, who therefore leaves him.

The movie takes off when Brochant is left alone, incapable to move and with Pignon trying to help him, to see where his wife have gone. And as soon as the movie starts (the set-up took a little time, but for the best) the film features a succession of never-ending misunderstandings, gaffes, and remarkable displays of clumsiness that elevate "The Dinner Game" to a masterpiece level in the comedy of errors genre. Surprisingly, the film is mostly set in Brochant's luxurious apartment, conveying a sort of trapped sensation. The film is adapted from a play written by Francis Veber and the unity of time, space and plot contributes to a coherent plot getting crescendo, each disaster provoked by Pignon leading to a bigger disaster when he tries to make up for the first. In the progress, other characters make their entrance, Brochant's ex-friend played by a brilliant Francis Huster, Just Leblanc (whose name will create one of the most hilarious cases of misunderstanding in French cinema) not to mention the scene-stealing performance of Daniel Prevost as François's friend, a hard-nosed tax inspector. Alexandra Van Der Noot and Catherine Frot also deserve accolades for the two female parts that will get mixed up by the poor Mr. Pignon.

The casting, while minimalist, is enough to conduct the movie with laughs and laughs, creating one of the greatest and most unanimously praised French comedies and Veber's true masterpiece. Indeed, Veber's comedies often relied on the simple but efficient buddy duo, with the white-faced clown and the Auguste, when the laughs mostly came from the reactions of the straight guy rather than the actions of the funny one, but this time, there's also a cynical yet delightful pleasure from seeing the Lhermitte character so tormented. His nightmarish journey seems deserved, and it would take a lot of pains to feel sorry for him because his wife left him, after all, she left him because he wanted to play a humiliating game. Not a villain or an antagonist, he's still a hardly redeemable character, and all the laughs are mixed with the satisfaction to see him get through this pain. As he'd say to Pignon, he avenged in one night all the idiots who ever participated to dinner games before, and he couldn't be truer.

But as usual, Veber films don't take their 'seriousness' with seriousness, when we know where the film is going to, we're immediately surprised by a twist that gets the final spice, a masterpiece of wit, sophistication, laughs and cynicism, leading to one major conclusion : never take one's personality for granted. Indeed, just because someone looks and sounds like an idiot doesn't mean that he is not one.

Pierre Brochant and his friends have a weekly dinner party where each invites an idiot they meet to attend. They then let the `idiots' talk and laugh at them - each week the winner is the one who brings the biggest idiot. However this week Brochant's idiot, François Pignon arrives at his house to find that he has injured his back and cannot go. About to leave, Pignon stops when the answer-phone reveals a message that Brochant's wife is leaving him. He tries to help the situation and Brochant sort of needs him to, but he can't help but make things a little worse every time.

The premise of this film made it sound like it was set at the dinner party of the title and it put me of a little as I didn't like the cruel sound of it. However the actual plot occurs in Brochant's flat, but it does still have a cruel streak that is a little unpleasant. Because Pignon is such a nice little man it is hard to see him so openly reviled and mocked by Brochant, I know the plot requires it but it was done with more than a little malice and at times left a bitter taste in the mouth. However, for the majority the film is actually very funny in a slight way. The laughs generally come from buffoonery from Pignon at Brochant's expense!

The plot does turn around to be one of lessons towards the end which is good, and the story does have a good message of acceptance through it. The actors do pretty well with their broad characters, although they are allowed a little expansion towards the end of the film. Lhermitte's cold hearted bastard is a little to hard and cruel without enough in the way of being judged by the film. Villeret makes the film and perfectly makes Pignon a likeable and warm little fellow but still undeniably makes him the type of person who you would cross the road to avoid. The beauty of this is that, when Brochant learns his lesson, we as the audience also learn something too. Support roles are good but this film is mostly a double-hander which the two leads carry well.

Light and funny despite the slightly cruel nature of the plot, this film is well worth a watch. The humour is very much situation based and relies on plot devices to move it on, but it's quite fresh and amusing and makes for an enjoyable 90 minutes.

A group of well-to-do snobbish and obnoxious professionals have dinner parties every Wednesday to which each of them is required to bring an "idiot" as a guest. The victims have no idea that they are invited merely to be humiliated and their boorish "sponsors" compare their notes later to determine whose "idiot" was the best. Pierre Brochant( Thierry Lhermitte), the smug publisher thinks that he's got a winner in the tax accountant François Pignon (Jacques Villeret, sadly passed away in January 2005 - great French Comedian whose performance in "Robert and Robert" I enjoyed very much) who reproduces the famous landmarks with the matchsticks and would talk about them with never ending enthusiasm. Unfortunately for Pierre (but fortunately for us, the viewers) he throws his back just before the dinner and has to rely to Pignon's sincere generosity. The tables are turned and look who is an idiot after all...

With the modest running time of 80 minutes, the "Dinner Game" is a delightful and very funny comedy. I would not expect anything else from Francis Veber, the director of Le Jouet, (1976) aka The Toy , La Chèvre, (1981) aka Knock On Wood, Les Compères, (1983) ... aka ComDads, and Les Fugitifs, (1986) and the writer for Le Grand blond avec une chaussure noire, (1972) ... aka The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe.

Go see it now in Francais now before the Americans get a hold of it and screw up another perfectly good Veber movie, as usual. (I can't wait to see what bodily fluid gets fashionably added to the Lafitte Rothchild '78 in the US version. Ugh.)

The wealthy editor Pierre Brochant (Thierry Lhemitte) and his friends have a competition: every Wednesday, each one of them invites the dumbest jackass he can find for a dinner, where each one of the guests is invited to talk about himself as much as possible. Later, after the guests say goodbye, the group of friends makes fun and elects the more stupid and imbecile guest. Pierre invites François Pignon (Jacques Villeret), a man that works in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and makes "maquettes" of matches to forget his beloved wife, who went away with a friend of him two years ago, for the dinner. However, a tough pain in one vertebra of his spinal column does not allow Pierre to meet his friends for the game and he stays alone with solicitous, but clumsy and stupid François in his apartment. Every attempt of François helping Pierre goes wrong, becoming the night of Pierre a terrible nightmare.

"Le Diner de Cons" is a witty theatrical movie, practically set in the room of an apartment. However, on the contrary of what a reader may think, it is one of the best comedies I have ever seen, and I do not recall the last time I have laughed this way. The work of Jacques Villeret as an authentic jackass, with a stupid grin and trying to help Pierre, is amazing. The dialogs and situations are very intelligent and hilarious. I highly recommend this film, awarded with three "César" and two "Lumiere Award", for one of those days when the viewer is upset or stressed, for a perfect relaxation. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Jantar dos Malas" ("The Dinner of the Jackasses")

Note: On 22 January 2025, I saw this film again.