The defence The Arthouse Gremlin
“Ambition earns the room.”
The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.
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The Dinner Game
Comedy · 1998
For Pierre Brochant 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, Brochant is ecstatic. He has found a gem. The ultimate idiot, “A world champion idiot!”. What Brochant doesn’t know is that Pignon is a real jinx, a past master in the art of bringing on catastrophes...
Movie details
The Dinner Game
“A feast for the senseless.”
1998 Comedy 1h 20m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.8 / 10
Community rating
For Pierre Brochant 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, Brochant is ecstatic. He has found a gem. The ultimate idiot, “A world champion idiot!”. What Brochant doesn’t know is that Pignon is a real jinx, a past master in the art of bringing on catastrophes...
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Dinner Game?
For the defence
The Arthouse Gremlin
“The stranger, the better.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Revenge of the Pink Panther
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A Difficult Year
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Hot Shots!
Action · 1991
The gang that created Airplane! and The Naked Gun sets its sights on Top Gun in this spoof. Topper Harley is a talented but unstable fighter pilot with an axe to grind: clearing the family name. His mission is to avenge his father and save a mission sabotaged by greedy weapons manufacturers. He also gets involved in a relationship with Ramada Thompson, a woman with an unusually talented stomach. Hot Shots! makes fun of a variety of other films, from Dances with Wolves to The Fabulous Baker Boys.
Superwho?
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A struggling actor seems doomed to live life as a loser. When he finally snatches a lead role as a superhero named “Badman,” he feels like everything is possible, but fate strikes again.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Francis Veber
Written by
Francis Veber
Jacques Villeret
François Pignon
Thierry Lhermitte
Pierre Brochant
Francis Huster
Juste Leblanc
Daniel Prévost
Lucien Cheval
Alexandra Vandernoot
Christine Brochant
Catherine Frot
Marlène Sasseur
Edgar Givry
Jean Cordier
Court is in session
Put The Dinner Game on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Importance has entered the chat.”
The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.