My Dinner with Andre

The entire premise of My Dinner with Andre is in the title. Nothing more or less happens physically—it’s literally two hours of pure conversation—and yet the film is more eventful and compelling than a lot of movies out today. That’s because there’s no pretension in the back-and-forth that happens between Wally and his friend Andre. They discuss meaning, spirituality, isolation, and fulfillment (life itself basically) but never in a gratuitous, self-congratulatory way. There’s genuine interest and curiosity between the two; both are artists hailing from the theater, but while Andre is well-traveled and interested in new age ideas that lean on superstition, Wally is a practical man who finds meaning in small details and domestic events. Whether one or the other is correct is not the point. Instead, My Dinner with Andre is a beautiful example of how a conversational film can be a masterclass in form. Their storytelling is so vivid and alive that it’s enough to have us conjure images beyond their sit down. The scenes are so carefully detailed and shot that they inject believable life into the austere setup. It goes without saying that the movie is smart—it has to be to rely on dialogue alone—but it’s also surprisingly poignant. Here are two friends who’ve drifted apart and likely judged each other at one point for being so different than their idea of normal. But they’ve come together for a meal and a cathartic conversation, which is sometimes all you need to get along.

Two old friends meet for dinner; as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.