December 12, 2024 • 12 mins
"My Dinner With Andre" is beautiful simple film directed by Louis Malle. A legendary filmmaker decided to film two theater guys talk about life while they eat in what looks like to be a fancy restaurant in New York. This film is unqiue due to the fact that it's simply two people who meet up and dine. And they talk for 111 minutes. For us nowadays, one will say "oh, well that's just a typical podcast". True, but it's the FIRST. And honestly the only of it's kind. There's really not a film like "My Dinner With Andre". These two men talk about life, throw in their perspectives. There is a point to the film. There is a beginning, middle and end and it's great. It all works very well. I love how these characters make life seem real by talking about things that are real to some of us. A scripted as it can be, they were able to create something that we can all relate no matter who we are, where we're from. I like the they it shot as well. There's an intensity with Andre Gregory that Malle was able to get down. When you see that close up, you feel the words that Andre is saying. You see that vulnerability and contrast it with Wallace Shawn's realistic approach of life. They are great together. You can tell Shawn is skeptical but he loves his friend. He has a respect for him that you can see and Malle, again, shoots it so dignifying, I can't help but just stare and figure if there's more to it and turns out in this film, there's not, haha. I'm actually going to watch it again. There's layers in the topics they discuss and it's fun to see something so real to be just fiction but it's that darn believable.
Four out of four tokes.
#mydinnerwithandre #louismalle
Four out of four tokes.
#mydinnerwithandre #louismalle
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Good morning, this is morning real. If I see it,
I review it. Posted by Yours Truly Ray Salazar. It's
a three to four two hundred men or so podcasts
of films that I review, and it's I've always wanted
to see this film, but this is a film that
really requires like your time, like your personal time, because
(00:23):
people who made this film, as much as it doesn't
even look like it, they put so much into this
to make it look like it's just one evening. This
film is called My Dinner with Andrea. It's a nineteen
eighty one comedy drama film directed by the Great Luis
mal written by Walda Shawn and Andre Gregory, who both
(00:45):
starred in the film playing themselves in some weird way.
Produced by George W. George That's a Weird Name, Beverly
carp cinematography by Jerry Sopanan, edited by Suzanne Byron, music
by Alan Sean, and distributed by New Yorker Films. This
film had a budget of four hundred and seventy five
(01:07):
thousand dollars and made a box office hit at five
zero point two million dollars, which is even at that
time and especially the type of film that it is
is pretty monumental when you look at this film, and
I really hope you do, because it's all available on
Max and honestly, you can probably find this on YouTube
(01:28):
for free with or without ads. Right.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
And it's about these two friends.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Right. While Shawn he's a playwright, he's struggling to make
money as a playwright. He lives in New York, it's
the eighties, he can't get the work that he wants
to get.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
He soon meets up with a.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Friend to have dinner with named Andre Gregory, who's a
pretty good theater director, right, at least that's what it
seems like it to be. And he hadn't seen this
person in a while. Nobody knows around the theater maybe
what happened to him. There's only like things, you know,
like little rumors here and there. But it turns out
(02:06):
that this guy went away for five years in Poland
doing some experimental theatrical work, and he gained a new
perspective of life, being basically away from his family, away
from his surroundings, away from what's natural to him. And
he comes back and you can tell it's almost like
(02:27):
he's a different person. But he's not, because although he's
gotten a new vision of life of people, especially outside
of New York, especially in the eighties. He doesn't forget
where he came from, you know, And I think that
was the thing that Wallace was trying to like figure out.
(02:48):
Because Wallace, he's lived his life in the city. You know,
he's a city kid. And you can tell, like in
the first act and in the third act, which.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Is like the ending of this film.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
I don't know why it made me feel a little emotional.
I well, just to put it quickly, man, it's like
watching a Joe Rogan podcast, but filmed by Louis Mall,
filmed with pretty good cinematography. It's just not a guy
who's literally pushing two or three buttons going from one
(03:21):
angle to another. Like no, there are close ups, there
are reaction shots, there are wide shots. You know, sometimes
the shot sticks to the character who's not talking, you know,
just to see, like, for one hundred and eleven minute film,
the things that these people talk about, even if like
it has nothing to do with like what your field
(03:42):
is in life, it still resonates, at least to me,
it does resonate. I can't say about you, right, but
like these people are like you know, they're older folks,
you know, some of them are in their thirties, forties
or whatnot. And even at that age, at that time,
with the careers that they have, they still have this
type of displacement, you know, like they get moments, they
(04:05):
have days of depression, days of like, you know, what
am I doing with my life? They have those types
of thoughts where like they're not sure of what they
were doing in their life. They don't know if it's
the right thing. Like some of them question whether they
should just give it all up and like find something
(04:25):
else to do, you know, But at the end of
the day, you realize who you are, you realize who
you're with, and if the little small things make you happy,
like you know, reasonable small things, then go with that
and make better choices or make better things out of it.
(04:48):
I like this film a lot. Like like I said,
it does take a lot out of you, but you're
just intrigued about what Andre Gregory says about people. Right, Like,
there's people out there, especially like in Poland or just
in Europe general, who like they don't work, Like what
they do in life is like they do theater related stuff,
you know, and to them it's the biggest high you
(05:09):
can get.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
It's just a different life. And Wallace was trying to.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Have a hard time to like accept that because you know,
this guy's from New York. Like his simple pleasures are
having a cup of coffee, you know, getting the paper
that's delivered by the newspaper person, you know, things like that.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
In his defense, he feels like you.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Shouldn't like go on a psychedelics slash pseudo experimental retreat
to find yourself or to you know, to make sense
of what's in your life.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
You know, Like it's.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Funny that they talk to each other to pretty much
figure that out. And it just takes people to do that, honestly.
I mean, after all, you're going out there and you're
meeting others, right, so you are meeting people getting a
different discourse of life. And when you come back to
your surroundings, there's somebody out there who's gonna like kinda
(06:09):
not put you back into your place, but like kind
of remind you, like, hey, like don't forget this is where.
This is where you came from, you know, and we
got it good. Them over there in Poland got it good.
You know, if I need to go on the retreat.
I will, but I probably won't because just walking down
the street to go to your favorite cafe just to
(06:30):
have a cup of coffee that already makes your morning,
that already makes your day, and it puts you to
a certain focus into life. It's crazy how this film
still resonates to this day as far as like the
things that Gregory talks about, you know, which like how
meaty is today, how corrupted our political systems are, and
(06:50):
how they trying to brainwash people into thinking that it's
just work, work, work, pay taxes, and like there's no
sense of like self, there's no sense of fun being
sucked away. And in a weird way, theater is like
one of the few things as far as like you know,
entertainment right that takes you out of all those things.
(07:12):
You know, it doesn't make you think about like, oh man,
I got to pay the bills.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
You know, like.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Theater is not the greatest like entertainment feel to be
in as far as like making money. You know, like
you're going to struggle. You know, it's a very almost
a personal thing. You're putting your whole self there and
you only hope that the person who's watching this will
tell somebody else to come watch it with you, or
(07:38):
tell five other people to do it to bitch. But
these guys believe in it because that's just who they
become to be. And I've never seen Louis Mouse films, man,
this would be my first one, and I got to
say it really it really struck a really.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Struck a nerve in me, a good nerve.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
You know. It's fun seeing people talk, you know, and
it's this film's not like any other film, especially coming
in nineteen eighty one or in the eighties period. Like
these are literally two people talking to each other about
life and they still remain friends. And there's no really
a conclusion to this film. But like if there's any
(08:21):
type of conclusion is that at the end of the day,
wherever you're talking to you may have your disagreements to
certain things, but you still got your friend, and you
would want that friend to have that certain disagreement because
you know, then all you're gonna do is talk, you know,
and then sometimes you like to hear the other person talk.
(08:43):
It's a pretty cool film, man, Like I wish I
was there, like just sitting there and watching it all
go down, And it's funny to say that this film
was not shot in one night, nor was it written
in a week.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Like this film.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Took weeks for it to like actually happen, to make
sure that that it looks the way how we see it,
you know. And I thought it was shot pretty well,
you know, because I learned certain things about this film
as far as like the staging of it was a
shot on location. I mean, you can tell when it is,
(09:16):
but you cannot tell when it isn't. And that to
me is everything in the film sometimes, especially a film
that doesn't have any special effects. You know, it's all
about staging in the people. And I get salute to
Wallace Shawn Andrew Gregory, especially Louis Moum. You get to
see Walla Shawn say annex but what is that famous
(09:38):
land that he has and the Princess Bride or whatnot?
You know, inconceivable, but he says it's so nonchalant, so
low key. Like you're like, oh, he said it, and like.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
I mean, maybe that's where it came from, you know.
I don't know. I wish I was there back in
the time where they were doing theater. I don't know
if they still.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Do it, but it sounds like a funk thing, a
fun thing to be a part of, you know, even
if you're a witness of it. And I'm very happy
to see this film. I don't know if it won
any awards or whatnot, but honestly, like people will say, yeah,
Tom Green, he's the guy who you know, he did
(10:17):
the first podcast. He's before Joe Rogan. Okay, cool, this
film is before Joe Rogan. This film is before any
other podcast. I mean radio came before all this stuff.
But like, if we're talking video stuff, like this is
like the first scripted, shot and edited, video produced podcast.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
And look where we are now talking about life.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Joe Rogan, you dude, he just had just had Quentin
Sarantino on Roger Avery in his podcast for three hours,
and I was just like, what the hell, dude, Like
those two wrote fiction together, like one of the most
iconic nine not even the most iconic nine films of
all time, but one of the most iconic films of
all time.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
And and and in.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
That podcast, they're talking about all kinds of things besides film,
like they try to relate it to like life, and
guess where that's stem from from this film.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
I would give this.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Film like an easy four out of four toes. Eason
got to see this film, man, like yeah, you know,
like there's other podcasts out there that does the same shit,
but nah, dude, like this film did it first. And
the things that like Andre Gregory says and like how
(11:42):
Walla Shawn like rebuts it. You know, it's a nice,
friendly conversation. They're having dinner together and it just seems
like the nicest thing to watch, you know, they have
and overall that's what I like. Follow me on Morning
show Films. Check out my website Morningshowfilms dot CEO. Next
(12:03):
week I will be putting out the film Goodfellas with
e Zone and Xavier Guerrero. It's to me it's a
Christmas film of some kind because you know, the gift
keeps on giving when he comes to these mobsters. But
there comes a certain time where all things that go
up must come down.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Thank you,
Good morning, this is morning real. If I see it,
I review it. Posted by Yours Truly Ray Salazar. It's
a three to four two hundred men or so podcasts
of films that I review, and it's I've always wanted
to see this film, but this is a film that
really requires like your time, like your personal time, because
(00:23):
people who made this film, as much as it doesn't
even look like it, they put so much into this
to make it look like it's just one evening. This
film is called My Dinner with Andrea. It's a nineteen
eighty one comedy drama film directed by the Great Luis
mal written by Walda Shawn and Andre Gregory, who both
(00:45):
starred in the film playing themselves in some weird way.
Produced by George W. George That's a Weird Name, Beverly
carp cinematography by Jerry Sopanan, edited by Suzanne Byron, music
by Alan Sean, and distributed by New Yorker Films. This
film had a budget of four hundred and seventy five
(01:07):
thousand dollars and made a box office hit at five
zero point two million dollars, which is even at that
time and especially the type of film that it is
is pretty monumental when you look at this film, and
I really hope you do, because it's all available on
Max and honestly, you can probably find this on YouTube
(01:28):
for free with or without ads. Right.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
And it's about these two friends.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Right. While Shawn he's a playwright, he's struggling to make
money as a playwright. He lives in New York, it's
the eighties, he can't get the work that he wants
to get.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
He soon meets up with a.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Friend to have dinner with named Andre Gregory, who's a
pretty good theater director, right, at least that's what it
seems like it to be. And he hadn't seen this
person in a while. Nobody knows around the theater maybe
what happened to him. There's only like things, you know,
like little rumors here and there. But it turns out
(02:06):
that this guy went away for five years in Poland
doing some experimental theatrical work, and he gained a new
perspective of life, being basically away from his family, away
from his surroundings, away from what's natural to him. And
he comes back and you can tell it's almost like
(02:27):
he's a different person. But he's not, because although he's
gotten a new vision of life of people, especially outside
of New York, especially in the eighties. He doesn't forget
where he came from, you know, And I think that
was the thing that Wallace was trying to like figure out.
(02:48):
Because Wallace, he's lived his life in the city. You know,
he's a city kid. And you can tell, like in
the first act and in the third act, which.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Is like the ending of this film.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
I don't know why it made me feel a little emotional.
I well, just to put it quickly, man, it's like
watching a Joe Rogan podcast, but filmed by Louis Mall,
filmed with pretty good cinematography. It's just not a guy
who's literally pushing two or three buttons going from one
(03:21):
angle to another. Like no, there are close ups, there
are reaction shots, there are wide shots. You know, sometimes
the shot sticks to the character who's not talking, you know,
just to see, like, for one hundred and eleven minute film,
the things that these people talk about, even if like
it has nothing to do with like what your field
(03:42):
is in life, it still resonates, at least to me,
it does resonate. I can't say about you, right, but
like these people are like you know, they're older folks,
you know, some of them are in their thirties, forties
or whatnot. And even at that age, at that time,
with the careers that they have, they still have this
type of displacement, you know, like they get moments, they
(04:05):
have days of depression, days of like, you know, what
am I doing with my life? They have those types
of thoughts where like they're not sure of what they
were doing in their life. They don't know if it's
the right thing. Like some of them question whether they
should just give it all up and like find something
(04:25):
else to do, you know, But at the end of
the day, you realize who you are, you realize who
you're with, and if the little small things make you happy,
like you know, reasonable small things, then go with that
and make better choices or make better things out of it.
(04:48):
I like this film a lot. Like like I said,
it does take a lot out of you, but you're
just intrigued about what Andre Gregory says about people. Right, Like,
there's people out there, especially like in Poland or just
in Europe general, who like they don't work, Like what
they do in life is like they do theater related stuff,
you know, and to them it's the biggest high you
(05:09):
can get.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
It's just a different life. And Wallace was trying to.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Have a hard time to like accept that because you know,
this guy's from New York. Like his simple pleasures are
having a cup of coffee, you know, getting the paper
that's delivered by the newspaper person, you know, things like that.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
In his defense, he feels like you.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Shouldn't like go on a psychedelics slash pseudo experimental retreat
to find yourself or to you know, to make sense
of what's in your life.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
You know, Like it's.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Funny that they talk to each other to pretty much
figure that out. And it just takes people to do that, honestly.
I mean, after all, you're going out there and you're
meeting others, right, so you are meeting people getting a
different discourse of life. And when you come back to
your surroundings, there's somebody out there who's gonna like kinda
(06:09):
not put you back into your place, but like kind
of remind you, like, hey, like don't forget this is where.
This is where you came from, you know, and we
got it good. Them over there in Poland got it good.
You know, if I need to go on the retreat.
I will, but I probably won't because just walking down
the street to go to your favorite cafe just to
(06:30):
have a cup of coffee that already makes your morning,
that already makes your day, and it puts you to
a certain focus into life. It's crazy how this film
still resonates to this day as far as like the
things that Gregory talks about, you know, which like how
meaty is today, how corrupted our political systems are, and
(06:50):
how they trying to brainwash people into thinking that it's
just work, work, work, pay taxes, and like there's no
sense of like self, there's no sense of fun being
sucked away. And in a weird way, theater is like
one of the few things as far as like you know,
entertainment right that takes you out of all those things.
(07:12):
You know, it doesn't make you think about like, oh man,
I got to pay the bills.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
You know, like.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Theater is not the greatest like entertainment feel to be
in as far as like making money. You know, like
you're going to struggle. You know, it's a very almost
a personal thing. You're putting your whole self there and
you only hope that the person who's watching this will
tell somebody else to come watch it with you, or
(07:38):
tell five other people to do it to bitch. But
these guys believe in it because that's just who they
become to be. And I've never seen Louis Mouse films, man,
this would be my first one, and I got to
say it really it really struck a really.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Struck a nerve in me, a good nerve.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
You know. It's fun seeing people talk, you know, and
it's this film's not like any other film, especially coming
in nineteen eighty one or in the eighties period. Like
these are literally two people talking to each other about
life and they still remain friends. And there's no really
a conclusion to this film. But like if there's any
(08:21):
type of conclusion is that at the end of the day,
wherever you're talking to you may have your disagreements to
certain things, but you still got your friend, and you
would want that friend to have that certain disagreement because
you know, then all you're gonna do is talk, you know,
and then sometimes you like to hear the other person talk.
(08:43):
It's a pretty cool film, man, Like I wish I
was there, like just sitting there and watching it all
go down, And it's funny to say that this film
was not shot in one night, nor was it written
in a week.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Like this film.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Took weeks for it to like actually happen, to make
sure that that it looks the way how we see it,
you know. And I thought it was shot pretty well,
you know, because I learned certain things about this film
as far as like the staging of it was a
shot on location. I mean, you can tell when it is,
(09:16):
but you cannot tell when it isn't. And that to
me is everything in the film sometimes, especially a film
that doesn't have any special effects. You know, it's all
about staging in the people. And I get salute to
Wallace Shawn Andrew Gregory, especially Louis Moum. You get to
see Walla Shawn say annex but what is that famous
(09:38):
land that he has and the Princess Bride or whatnot?
You know, inconceivable, but he says it's so nonchalant, so
low key. Like you're like, oh, he said it, and like.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
I mean, maybe that's where it came from, you know.
I don't know. I wish I was there back in
the time where they were doing theater. I don't know
if they still.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Do it, but it sounds like a funk thing, a
fun thing to be a part of, you know, even
if you're a witness of it. And I'm very happy
to see this film. I don't know if it won
any awards or whatnot, but honestly, like people will say, yeah,
Tom Green, he's the guy who you know, he did
(10:17):
the first podcast. He's before Joe Rogan. Okay, cool, this
film is before Joe Rogan. This film is before any
other podcast. I mean radio came before all this stuff.
But like, if we're talking video stuff, like this is
like the first scripted, shot and edited, video produced podcast.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
And look where we are now talking about life.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Joe Rogan, you dude, he just had just had Quentin
Sarantino on Roger Avery in his podcast for three hours,
and I was just like, what the hell, dude, Like
those two wrote fiction together, like one of the most
iconic nine not even the most iconic nine films of
all time, but one of the most iconic films of
all time.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
And and and in.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
That podcast, they're talking about all kinds of things besides film,
like they try to relate it to like life, and
guess where that's stem from from this film.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
I would give this.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
Film like an easy four out of four toes. Eason
got to see this film, man, like yeah, you know,
like there's other podcasts out there that does the same shit,
but nah, dude, like this film did it first. And
the things that like Andre Gregory says and like how
(11:42):
Walla Shawn like rebuts it. You know, it's a nice,
friendly conversation. They're having dinner together and it just seems
like the nicest thing to watch, you know, they have
and overall that's what I like. Follow me on Morning
show Films. Check out my website Morningshowfilms dot CEO. Next
(12:03):
week I will be putting out the film Goodfellas with
e Zone and Xavier Guerrero. It's to me it's a
Christmas film of some kind because you know, the gift
keeps on giving when he comes to these mobsters. But
there comes a certain time where all things that go
up must come down.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Thank you,
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