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My Dinner with Andre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| My Dinner with Andre | |
|---|---|
 My Dinner with Andre DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Louis Malle |
| Produced by | George W. George, Beverly Karp |
| Written by | Andre Gregory, Wallace Shawn |
| Starring | Andre Gregory, Wallace Shawn |
| Distributed by | New Yorker Films |
| Release date(s) | October 11, 1981 |
| Running time | 110 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
My Dinner with Andre is a 1981 movie starring Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn, written by Gregory and Shawn, and directed by Louis Malle.
The film consists almost entirely of a long conversation between two acquaintances in a chic restaurant in New York City. It is based largely on actual conversations between Gregory and Shawn, and covers such subjects as experimental theatre, the nature of theatre, and the nature of reality. The movie was filmed in an abandoned hotel in Virginia. The dialogue contrasted Shawn's modest down-to-earth humanism against Gregory's extravagant spiritual experiences and fantasies. Although the film was based on actual events in the actors' lives, Shawn and Gregory denied (in an interview by film critic Roger Ebert) that they were playing themselves, and stated that if they remade the film they would swap the two characters to prove their point.
The Boston Society of Film Critics Awards awarded the film the title "Best American Film" in 1982 and awarded Gregory and Shawn its prize for best screenplay. Roger Ebert, along with his TV partner Gene Siskel, had also praised the film and helped bring public attention to it. Ebert, in 1999, added My Dinner with Andre as one of his "Great Movies" essay series. In the autobiographical comic book series American Splendor, Harvey Pekar (the writer) meets Wallace Shawn and sees the film.
- My Dinner with Andre was parodied by Andy Kaufman and wrestler Fred Blassie in My Breakfast with Blassie (1983).
- My Coffee with Niles, the final episode of Season One of Frasier, is clearly inspired by My Dinner With Andre.
- In the episode of The Simpsons, Boy-Scoutz N the Hood, Martin Prince is seen playing an arcade game based on the film.
- Pixar's first animated short—The Adventures of André and Wally B.—was a tribute to the movie.
- In Waiting for Guffman, Corky St. Clair, played by Christopher Guest, shows off his My Dinner with Andre action figures during the tour of his shop.
- My Dinner with Andre at the Internet Movie Database
- My Dinner with Andre review by Roger Ebert