Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Two old friends meet for dinner; as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.
My Dinner with Andre is a singular cinematic achievement built almost entirely on conversation between Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory over a restaurant meal. The acting is extraordinary — both performers deliver long, intellectually rich monologues and reactive listening with complete naturalism and depth. Novelty is high because the film's conception is genuinely one-of-a-kind: a nearly plotless, dialogue-driven film that sustains genuine dramatic tension through ideas alone, with a voice utterly unlike anything else in cinema. The plot is serviceable but deliberately minimal by design — two worldviews in collision — earning a solid above-average rating as a structural choice rather than a weakness. Cinematography is functional and restrained, appropriate to the material but not a visual showcase; Louis Malle keeps the camera unobtrusive to serve the words. The ending, while thematically resonant as Wally rides home reflecting on life, is low-key and somewhat diffuse rather than truly memorable or cathartic.