Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook

Director: David O'Russel
Written By: David O'Russel 
Photography: Masanobu Takayanagi 
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro.
Year: 2012
Country: USA 


    
 Picture the scene: I've just half heartedly purchased a ticket for Silver Linings Playbook, I've being forced to listen to the Aladdin OST while the screen fills up, I'm getting funny looks and laughs of people for being on my own and I know already that for two hours I'm going to have to sit through the most cynical piece of Oscar bait since Extremely Load and Incredibly Close.

 But something happened to me during Silver Linings Playbook where my reservations were overturned and I was completely won over by the film.

 Pat, played by Bradley Cooper, is diagnosed a with bipolar disorder and has spent time in a mental facility. Upon release he delusionally believes that is ex-lover is waiting for him to get better before they'll restart their relationship, despite a restraining order. Partly in an attempt to gain a link with his Ex-Wife, Pat strikes a friendship with an old acquaintance, Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), now suffering from depression after the death of her husband.

 On paper the film seems very 'Hey let me tug at your heart strings.' And if it was directed by say... Cameron Crowe, it probably would be. But David O'Russel tones the film in an honest and sincere way that when you are effected by it's charm (and you will be) it's all natural.

 I personally see it as wrong to call Silver Linings Playbook a comedy about mental illness. What it is is a human drama, with comic moments where several of the characters are affected by mental illness. One of my concerns while sitting listing to A Whole New World was that the film wouldn't differentiate between being ill and just being quirky, but it was quite the contrary . What I really appreciate is that mental illness isn't the catalyst or the but of any joke. Take any of the jokes delivered by Bradley Cooper and give them to one of the many characters in the film not affected by illness and it would remain just as funny.

 The film is propelled by two central powerhouse performances from Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence plus two brilliant mediating roles from Jacki Weaver and  Robert De Niro. Even Chris Tucker manages to be oddly engaging.    

  This good hearted winter-warmer makes the perfect film for a Christmas trip to the cinema. And make sure to see it now, because it will be the film everybody's talking about come February.    

The Master

The Master

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson 

Written by: Paul Thomas Anderson 

Photography: Mihai Malaimare Jr. 

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams. 

County: USA 

Year: 2012   

 It's been five years since Paul Thomas Anderson released his irrefutable masterpiece, There Will Be Blood, which was a surprising commercial success, although it was duly robbed at the Academy Awards by the Coen's No County For Old Men (Also a good film, but not as good.)  

 Freddie Quell is lost. An aggressive drunk who hasn't been able to hold on to a job or a woman since his departure from the navy at the end of the war. His paths cross Lancaster Dodd, know by some as The Master.  

 Lancaster Dodd is the leader of a philosophical movement, or to be more frank, a cult, known as The Cause. There are many parallels between Lancaster Dodd and his Cause with L. Ron Hubbard and his church of Scientology. This is purely subjective, but for me, The Master extended a representation of Cults but also of all organized religion. Religion not being something Paul Thomas Anderson has shyed away from in the past, it's one of the prominent themes in There Will Be Blood.    

 It's hard to know what I think of The Master. I do know that I definitely liked it, but it's such a heavy film, with all the subtext and everything, I feel like I've only seen half the film. I imagine it'll be much like my experience with David Croenberg's Videodrome; I liked it from first viewing, but it wasn't until my second or third viewing that I realized what a masterpiece it is.  

 Paul Thomas Anderson has already proved himself as a really special film-maker. I would go as far as to say he's best director working today. There are great directors like Godard and Scorsese who are stilling making films regularly, but their hayday is gone, as of right now, nobody's making better films than PTA is.  

 The film stars Joaquin Phoenix, who seemed to drop of the radar for a bit, but is back now with a career best performance with a character, reportedly, loosely based on the American author John Steinbeck. 

 You might be fooled early on into believing that Philip Seymour Hoffman is downplaying his performance is this film, but in a subtle and enigmatic way, it's possibly his most towering role. 

Question time. When did you realise how brilliant Amy Adams is? Because she's been around for a while now and it's only just clicked with me this year through The Master and The Fighter, which I caught up on this year and really enjoyed. 

 The film looks stunning, Anderson's direction is masterful as is Mihai Malaimare Jr.'s cinematography. The composition in every shot is inspired and lovingly crafted. 

 The major flaw in The Master is that it didn't so much end as stop. It seems like an recurring problem with Paul Thomas Anderson that he doesn't know how to end films; Boogie Nights had the same problem as did Magnolia and even There Will Be Blood, but that somehow got away with it. 

 The Master is a cinema at a raw level, which will make it unsavoury for many palates . But for cineasts and the likes, you'll probably find it just short of a masterpiece.           

Father of my Children

Father of my Children 

Director: Mia Hansen-Løve
Written By: Mia Hansen-Løve
Photography: Pascal Auffray 
Starring: Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Chiara Caselli, Alice de Lencquesaing
Year: 2009
Country: France, Germany 

 Humbert Balsan may not be a name you know; he was French film producer with a passion for cinema, producing films such as Lars von Trier's Manderlay and many of the later films of Merchant and Ivory. Humbert was also a sufferer of depression and tragically in 2005 was found one afternoon hanging in his office in Paris.

 Four years later film-maker Mia Hansen-Løve created Father of my Children, a fictionalized drama based on the life of Humbert Balsan. Although  I should strictly state that Father of my Children is not a biopic of Humbert Balsan, it's merely inspired by his story. 

 Grégoire Canvel is the name character played by Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, the first half of the movie intersects between Grégoire's business life and his family life he shares with his wife and three children. In these different worlds we see two different Grégoires; In his business life we see a man who is intelligent and passionate, whereas in his family life he see the caring and nurturing side of his nature. We kindle a strong affection for Grégoire right before shocking occurrence that flips the film fifty minutes in. The second half of the picture is how the people around him, especially his family, cope with his death. 

 The thirty-one year old director,  Mia Hansen-Løve, she has great eye and feel for pace. Fortunately, for her more than anyone else, she doesn't have any relation the the British gangster film-maker, Nick Love. 

 Father of my Children is both a touching and engaging drama, and an insightful and look at the film industry.   

Score: 4/5. 
    

Before Sunrise

Before Sunrise

Director: Richard Linklater.

Written By: Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan.

Photography: Lee Daniel.

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy and Andrea Eckert.

Year: 1995

Country: USA, Austria, Switzerland.

 Richard Linklater, a figure whose impact on American cinema is often understated, stunned everyone in 1995 with his simplistic and charming romance of two strangers finding love in Europe. 

 Jesse, played by Ethan Hawke, is an moneyless American travelling from Budapest to Vienna by train when he encounters a French beauty named Céline (Julie Delpy) making her way back to Paris. The two engage in discourse and strike an instant affinity for one another. When the train pulls up in Vienna, Jesse takes his chance and ask her to get off with him. Although they both know that he needs to make his flight back to the US in  the morning so they only have the one night together. 

 In their exploration through late night Austria they meet an assorted array of idiosyncratic characters, including avant-garde actors, fortune tellers and poetic bums. Raising similarities  to the film that made Linklater famous, Slacker. It's essentially the same film only giving it a story and changing the location from Austin to Vienna.    

 The film is written with a great deal of intelligence but not in a contrived way; it's apparent that the writers of the film (Linklater and Krizan) are both smart and it comes through naturally in the screenplay. The two characters, Jesse and Céline are likeable and well acted, unlike the unbearably cocky characters you get in most contemporary romances like the horrible The Notebook. 

 Before Sunset has one of the strongest female voices in cinema, developed from Kim Krizan and Julie Delpy's involvement in the film. Yet there is only one named female character in the whole film, so it's helps prove how little weight the The Bechdel Test holds.

 Guaranteed to make you laugh and likely to make you cry, Before Sunrise isn't another unrealistic and ostentatious romance film; it's a slice of real life and a showcase of real love. 

 Score: 5/5

   

Private Fears In Public Places

Private Fears in Public Places

Director: Alain Resnais
Written by: Jean-Michel Ribes 
Photography: Eric Gautier 
Starring: André Dussollier, Sabine Azéma and Isabelle Carré. 
Year: 2006
Country: France 



 Private Fears in Public Places is the 2006 film from French New Wave director, Alain Resnais. Adapted from the play by British playwright, Alan Ayckbourn.


 Private Fears is another one of those films that follows the at first seemingly separate but all interconnected stories of individuals living in the same city. Although Private Fears doesn't have the same self-importance and grandiose that Magnolia or other films of this narrative style often do.   


 The film takes place in a Parisian deep winter, where six individuals deal with plights of loneliness and relationships. 


 Although the film is set in Paris and you get the required backdrop of the Eiffel Tower in the poster, there are no exteriors of Paris in this at all. It's made up entirely from interior sets. The art design on these sets though is spectacular, the entire film is sleek, colourful and modern. 


 The ensemble cast does a good job. For me the highlight performance is André Dussollier, who plays an estate agent who becomes infatuated with his secretary. 


 The photography from Eric Gautier is great. He's done stunning work before on movies like Into The Wild and The Motorcycle Diaries, which are mostly exterior based film, so this is somewhat different to what he's done before.   


 The biggest problem with Private Fears is that the whole film feels inconsequent, it doesn't say or mean anything which leaves you feeling frustrated at the end. 


 Private Fears passes the six laugh test, which is good for a drama that doesn't claim to be a comedy, too. In fact, it works better as a comedy than it does as a drama.  


 Private Fears in Public Places looks beautiful but it lacks in substance, although it will raise some smiles and some laughs.  

 Score: 2.5/5 

Grand Hotel

Grand Hotel

Director: Edmund Goulding

Written By: William A. Drake

Photography: William H. Daniels

Starring:  Edmund Goulding  and Joan Crawford

Year: 1931

Country: USA

 Something I've not reviewed on here yet is classic gem from the golden age of Hollywood. So to make up for this cinecrime I've committed, I'm reviewing MGM's best picture winner, Grand Hotel, directed by Edmund Goulding.


 The film is based on the stage play by the same name. And the play itself was inspired by the novel Menschen im Hotel by German writer, Vicki Baum.


 Grand Hotel stars two of Hollywood's biggest female stars; Greta Garbo, the meek Swedish actor that, in the words of the Kinks, turned her back on stardom, because she vanted to be alone. It also stars Joan Crawford and her impeccable eyebrows.


 Garbo gives one of her best performances in Grand Hotel and it's down in movie history as her movie. But for me, Joan Crawford is one of the best female actors of her time and she steals the show.


 The Grand Hotel is a prestigious institution in the centre of Berlin. Where, as one sharp guest dryly states "People come and go. Nothing ever happens"


 The film uses an intertwining narrative. It follows several stories of guest in the hotel and throughout these stories will cross.   


 As good as it is, you would be wrong to believe that Grand Hotel is anything more than a movie made to make money. The studios knew just as much then as they do today that stars bring in an audience, so it was filled with the five of the biggest names in 1931. Think of Grand Hotel as a 1930s equivalent of New Year's Eve    


The screenplay was adapted for the screen by its playwright, William A. Drake. The screenplay for Grand Hotel is fantastic, the dialogue is engaging and authentic. The line 'I want to be alone' delivered by Gerta Garbo came in at number thirty on the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Movie quotes. 


Score: 3.5/5

Magic Mike

Magic Mike

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Written by: Reid Carolin
Photography: Peter Andrews
Starring: Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey and Alex Pettyfer
Year: 2012
Country: USA


Much like The Social Network was dubbed 'The Facebook Movie', Magic Mike is even less imaginatively named 'The Channing Tatum Male Stripper Movie'.


I had no qualms about seeing Magic Mike, eighteen years of cinema obsession has left me for the most part a-sexual. In fact, I wanted to see it. The reason for this was mostly the director, Steven Soderbergh. I knew with him involved the movie would be more than what the trailer was letting on. Soderbergh's a storyteller and an auteur at the top of his game, he has no motive to start making exploitation films.


And I was right to trust my faith in film-makers, as Magic Mike is far from one hundred and ten minutes of camp song and dance. Magic Mike is actually a movie about the economy. A lot of it is them sat around, fully dresses, talking about money. There's going to be a lot of disappointed Hen Nights to Magic Mike, in fact it might even ruin their night as it takes a dark turn in the second act, in a Boogie Nights sort of way.


The film starts with Mike (Channing Tatum) at his day job on a construction site where he's set to instruct the new kid, played by Alex Pettyfer. Despite sparking up a new friendship, the newbie's first day at his new job is fairly disastrous and he's fired. That evening he follows Mike into a nightclub, which leads to him discovering Mikes magical alter ego and him eventually becoming a stripper himself. When Mike takes him home the next morning, he meets his sister and romance between the two blossoms.


There's lots of other plot threads weaved in. Like Mike's dreams to become a designer of custom furniture. Or his complicated open-relationship with Olivia Munn's character.


Channing Tatum was actually a male stripper before he was an actor. He worked with screenwriter, Reid Carolin to make the film as authentic as possible. He also produced the film and choreographed all his own dance routines.


Channing Tatum is showing what a good actor he really is in his recent roles. He's breaking out of the awful soppy romance films that he's known for and started to take more daring roles. I actually really like Channing Tatum, I think he walks the line between cool and charm that you want from a Hollywood star.


Matthew McConaughey, who I never thought I would like in anything other than Lone Star and Dazed and Confused, steals the film. I never thought I'd say this but I think he has a shot at a Best Supporting Actor Oscar this year. The man who was once the STD contracted from Hollywood's rape of the the Rom-Com, McConaughey has finally realised that he's more of a Steve Buscemi than a Hugh Grant and this will do his career a service.


Cody Horn didn't impress me much, I found her character a bit bitchy and unlikeable. Alex Pettyfer is reasonable, I can see him going on to do bigger and better things in the near future.


Other actors aren't given much dialogue or screentime, but the films worth watching for TNA Wrestler, Kevin Nash's attempt at dancing alone.


Soderbergh direction is brilliant as is the cinematography which was also Soderbergh under his pseudonym, Peter Andrew.


Magic Mike is a film full of Hollywood clichés and conceits, but the characters are realistic and interesting and the story has charm. As well as that It balances it's fun strip routines well with it's social commentary.


Score: 3/5

George Washington

George Washington

 

Director: David Gordon Green 

Written By: David Gordon Green 

Photography: Tim Orr 

Starring: Paul Schneider and Eddie Rouse

Year: 2000

Country: USA   

 George Washington is a tale of friendship and tragedy that matches that of Stand By Me.  

 This is the first feature from director David Gordon Green, known more recently for films like Pineapple Express and The Sitter. How he went from directing movies of this caliber, to making Your Highness I will never understand. 

 A drama set in a sparsely populated town in North Carolina that was opened to limited release in 2000. It follows a group of friends as they try to cover up and forget a tragic accident that happened to them. 

 There are no professional actors in the film, they're all locals or people who David Gordon Green knew personally. Some of the actors like Paul Schneider and Eddie Rouse went on to do other things, but for most it was their first and only acting experience, which shouldn't come as a surprise, a lot of the dialogue in the film does feel mannered. This doesn't ruin the film, once you're captivated by its story, you don't even notice. 

 The screenplay is really strong, especially in dialogue. It does have that pretentiousness that you get with all indie movies, but it's a good type pretentiousness. 

The films characters, although idiosyncratic,all feel completely real and relateable. 

 For a movie set in the American South that has a mix of Caucasian and African-American characters, you're waiting for it at any minutes to turn into Do The Right Thing, but it never does.  In fact, race is never brought up at all. It makes for a pleasant change to see a movie that has such a multiracial cast that doesn't feel the need to make a comment on race relations. Also a movie that shows the South in a positive light.

 George Washington made me smile and it nearly brought me to tears. It's masterly made and touchingly sentimental. It's a gem in independent cinema.   

Score 5/5

   

Up In The Air

Up In The Air 

Director: Jason Reitman 
Written By: Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner
Photography: Eric Steelberg 
Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick. 
Year: 2009
Country: USA

 Up In The Air takes American Smart Cinema to a whole new level of class and sophistication. 

 The film starts with a soul/funk cover of Woody Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land by Sharon Jones, which is a song I like, but in the contexts of the opening credits it felt really dreary, so I sat back in my seat expecting a dreadful flight. The first joke of the film is a stewardess saying to George Clooney's character, Jake "Can, Sir?" which he hears as 'Cancer'. 'Oh, God' I thought 'If all the jokes are this bad, I'm going to really hate this film' 

 Fortunately, all the bad jokes were declared at arrival and Up In The Air turns out to be a sweet, enjoyable treat with just that right measurements of comedy and romance. 

 Ryan Bingham is what's know as a Downsizer; he is someone hired by big companies to fire their employees. This profession requires him to fly all across the States and spends most of his life travelling first-class via plane and sleeping alone in five-star hotel rooms - A life he enjoys very much. As well as this he's also a motivational speaker of the Tony Robbins variety. His shtick is that in life you should keep moving, any attachments or possessions you acquire along the way only weigh you down. Ryan's ideal life is in trouble when his company wants to introduce a new GLOCAL strategy, doing the same job, but via webcam in their offices.   

 Jason Bateman plays Ryan's boss in the film. I always enjoy watching Bateman, he's not a great actor but I get some good Arrested Development nostalgia from seeing him. Anna Kendrick fits the role perfectly as a determined post-feminist newbie under Jake's wing. And Vera Farmiga is great too as the love interest, who's basically a female-jake.     

 Zach Galifianakis also makes a small memorable appearance. But the most minor role and possible best performance of the film comes from J.K. Simons. Really makes you question why there isn't an Oscar category for best minor role. 

 Based on a book by the same name by Walter Kim, Up In The Air was co-written and directed by Jason Reitman, son of Ghostbusters' director Ivan Reitman.  Up In The Air isn't as indie or pretentious as Reitman's previous film Juno (Which contrary to what i just said, I did enjoy) it's closer to his début feature, Thank You For Smoking. 

 The film loses its nihilistic persona about half way through the second act and starts to grow a heart, which may leave cynics feeling a little cheated.   

With most of the film taking place in Airports, the film looks stylish, clean and modern. Up In The Air is  timely piece that makes for a pleasant flight. Some occasional strong language and some explicit sexting may meet the disapproval of George Clooney  fan club members who have an mean age of 70, but Up In The Air should have something for everyone over the certificated age.    

  Score: 4/5

Crash

Crash

Director: David Cronenberg.

Written by: David Cronenberg.

Photography: Peter Suschitzky.

Staring: James Spader, Holly Hunter and Elias Koteas.

Year: 1996.

Country: Canada. 

 There's a lot of fuss right now over a book called 50 Shades of Grey which came out last year. It's an erotic novel that's caused controversy over it's use of BDSM. 


  In 1996 a movie called Crash caused similar controversy. (I'm not talking about the Sandra Bullock/Matt Dillon film by the way).


  The film was written and directed by ex-body horror auteur David Cronenberg. I admit with some embarrassment that In my younger cinephile days I wasn't a fan of Cronenberg, but now I'm older and smarter and I see his true genius.


 Crash explores the connection between sex and car crashes. James Ballard (played by James Spader) is in an open marriage and has an experimental sex life. On the way home from work one night he crashes into Helen Remington (Holly Hunter) and her husband. Helen's husband is killed but James and Helen survive and end up in hospital. After a few accidental encounter, James and Helen begin to have an affair begotten from the thrill of crashing. As the delve in hey discover a sub-culture of people with a car crash fetish.


 This secretive collective stages recreations of infamous Hollywood deaths like James Dean and Jayne Mansfield. Although I enjoyed these scenes, they could be taken as insulting to the memory of these stars. In the original novel this was a comment on the contemporary obsession with celebrities. Cronenberg decided not to delve into this idea which is a shame, I would have liked him to. Though Cronenberg isn't someone who likes to preach, he prefers to let the audience decide for themselves, which he does with Crash.    


 The head of this group is a man named Vaughn played brilliantly by Elias Koteas. He explains to James how a car crash is a "fertilising rather than a destructive event, mediating the sexuality of those who have died with an intensity that's impossible in any other form."


 As you could imagine, there was a lot of negative uproar about the movie. Here in the UK, The Daily Mail ran a hate campaign trying to get it banned, when that didn't work they ran smear campaigns against members of the BBFC calming them unfit for position as one was divorced and one had a child out of wedlock (Yes, in 1996). To this day the film in still banned in Westminster. 


 I honestly didn't find it that shocking, I've seen much worse films like Lars Von Trier's Antichrist for example. I think the disgust steamed from a misunderstanding of the film: I was taken at face value and people were angry because they were feared the film was saying that car crashes were an aphrodisiac and easily influenced audience members would go out after seeing it and deliberately collide with others.


 Cronenberg's direction is masterful The film could have so easily have felt like an adult-movie. But with the exception of the opening scene it never does. The crashes are all factual, too. There's no slow motion, re-play or big explosions. The cinematography is also great, especially in it's use of lighting. 


 The only thing that let the movie down for me was that I found James Spader's character to be really dull and sometimes it felt as though he was just a fly on the wall.


 Crash is an an interesting film that you won't get through unaffected. Students of film will love it as they can peruse over Cronenberg's incredible and intelligent direction as well as all the symbolism embedded into the narrative. It's just not one for prudes. 

Score: 4/5   

Biutiful

Biutiful

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu.
Written By: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Armando Bo & Nicolás Giacobone.
Photography: Rodrigo Prieto.
Starring: Javier Bardem & Maricel Alvarez.
Year: 2010
Country: Spain, Mexico.

 

Biutiful is one of those odd movies that somehow creates something so sublime from subjects so harrowing. 

 Uxbal is the centre of the movie, A father of two fighting for custody with their bipolar mother. He's entangled in illegal immigration and cheap labour... and he's dying from cancer.

 He can also make contacts with the dead from being half dead, or... something. I'm not sure, the film has a lot of sub-plots that aren't really delved into. 

  Uxbal is played by the infallible Javier Bardem who was awarded with best actor at the Cannes Film Awards for this role. And you can completely understand that from his first line of dialogue. If Javier Bardem isn't a name you know despite winning an Oscar for  No Country For Old Men, he soon will be, as he's playing the villain in upcoming Sam Mendes directed James Bond flick, Skyfall. And no, he wasn't in Watchmen, that was Jeffrey Dean Morgan.  

  The director is also something of a big name. Most famously for his début film, Amores Perros and then following them up with films like 21 Grams and Babel. This is the first of his movies I've seen and I'm eager to check out his others now. I'm also going to check out some John Cassavetes, who was apparently was a big influence on the film stylistically. Although I know off a lot of his films; Shadows, A Woman Under The Influence and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Cassavetes is someone I'm familiar with only as an actor.

 I was surprised by how cold and dark this film felt. I'm used to Spanish films having lots of bright colours and flare. This certainly ain't no Almodóvar film. Even The Skin I Live In had an OCD cleanness to it and this just feels gritty. Which isn't a criticism, obviously this style matches the narrative  

 There are two scenes in the movie; the first being a scene where Javier Bardem is walking across a bridge and one of those political campaign vans drives past with speakers on top. It really reminded me of 'The safety zone will be eliminated' scene from Paris, Texas. It does it again where, it almost recreates the scene where Henry Dean Stanton and Hunter Carson are walking on opposite sides of the road. I don't know if they were deliberate or not, but Paris, Texas is my favourite movie  of all time, and anything that reminds me of it gets extra brownie points. It's like how a Star Wars reference can make any film better. 

The film does have faults though. It's quite long, at two and twenty-one minutes, and you wil feel the drag towards the end. It has sub-plots that don't go anywhere. Javier Bardem's character is the only one how really gets any attention. I really would to have liked to have known  some more about his kids, or his ex-wife. 

Score: 3.5/5

My Dinner With Andre

 My Dinner With Andre

Director: Louis Malle 

Screenplay: Andre Gregory & Wallace Shawn

Photography: Jeri Sopanen 

Staring: Andre Gregory & Wallace Shawn

Year: 1981

Country: USA

The concept of two guys just sitting and talking isn't something new to me. I had seen Jim Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes, though that's a kids' film compared to My Dinner with Andre. If this should be compared to any other film it should be Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men. 

 An intellectual show-piece, Wallace Shawn (playing a version of himself) gets an invite to have dinner with an old friend and fellow playwright, Andre Gregory (also a shadow of his true self) to one of New York's finest restaurants. Shawn is reluctant, we learn from narration as he travels on the Subway, to take the invitation, but does so because Gregory has been out of the country for a few years travelling in the far-east. He hears from mutual friends that upon his return, Andre has become an odd and an ambiguous character.  


 After some confusion over the restaurant's French menu, they eventually sit down for a meal of quails. Andre recounts the tales of his travels. These tales are primary allegories of philosophical questions about the human condition, science and superstition.


 It would be dreadfully easy for a movie like this to be pretentious, or just plain nonsense. But it's completely sincere and completely intelligent and will definitely  make you question yourself or your views during some point it it's 110 minute run-time. As good philosophy should.


 The acting in this movie is phenomenal.  Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory both have personas that don't make their character's wit or articulation feel contrived. Louis Malle hardly feels like he has a presence in the movie because it all seems so natural.


 Somewhat like Hitchcock's Rope, the film gives the impression of being one continuous take. Obviously it's not, no film reel is that long. And I doubt any actor could remember this script of by heart. Even two men of the theatre such as Gregory and Shawn.


My Dinner With Andre is a one of a kind film that should satisfy anyone who doesn't feel they get enough intellectual stimulation from cinema in general.


Score: 4.5/5