Le dîner de cons - DVD Review

Film / Year of Release / Language: Le dîner de cons (English Title - The Dinner Game)/ 1998/ French

Genre: Comedy  

Running Time: Just 85 minutes! (Approx)

Snapshot: Each week, Pierre Brochant (Thierry Lhemitte) and his friends organise - "un dîner de cons" (Literally means Dinner of Idiots). Everyone brings the dumbest guy he can find as a special guest. Later, after the 'special' guests depart, the group of friends have more fun and elect the more stupid and imbecile guest. Pierre thinks his find for the week -François Pignon (Jacques Villeret), a man that works in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and makes "matchstick models" to forget his estranged wife,- will be a show stealer.  But thanks to a back numbing pain, Pierre gets stuck alone in his apartment with the clumsy Francois and what follows is a long night-mare!

Why its on my list: If you thought the plot sounds familiar, you have probably watched Bheja Fry (2007) the Hindi rip-off of this film. This film is written and directed by Francis Veber. Veber co-wrote some of Hollywood's best comedies in the 1990s including Bird Cage (1996) and Fathers Day (1997). This film is a non-stop laugh riot with a mean streak. The film has outstanding performances by both the lead stars (Jacques Villeret and Thierry Lhemitte) and does have its occasional 'senti' moments too! Easily one of the meanest and funniest movies of the 1990s.  Veber wrote Le dîner de cons originally for the stage and he adapted it to film after hundreds of successful stage performances! 

Awards and Nominations: 4 Awards and 5 nominations including a nomination for best European film at the Goya awards

Ayan - Review

Why you must watch it:

• Great visuals, locales and production values
  
• If you are a Surya fan
• Timepass

Look out for: Prabhu who makes his presence felt in a strong supporting role (He is making a habit of it with movies like Billa, Silambattam and now Ayan). 

The Good: Visuals, Racy first half, Music
The Bad: Meandering second half, a terrible villain (Akashdeep Saigal) 

Bottomline: When was the last time you saw a Tamil film and said 'Paisa Vasool' or 'Timepass'. Ayan may not be the most entertaining Tamil film ever made but it is certainly one of the more entertaining Tamil films to hit the screen in the recent months. Surya is Deva an educated, savvy, street-smart con guy who works for Das (Prabhu) a smuggler with a heart of  gold, who controls North Chennai. The trouble starts when Kamlesh (Akashdeep Saigal) decides he wants to get one up on Das and Deva and a long cat and mouse game begins. There are strong similarities between Surya's role in Ayan and Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me if you Can. Overall Ayan is just about worth a watch because of a racy first half and some fantastic visuals - Unexplored locales in Africa and stunning action sequences which have truly raised the bar! The flip side? - A second half that meanders with mindless action, a heroine (Tamannah) who lacks 'oomph', a lead comedian (Jagan) who is not that funny and a villain in one of the worst ever performances in a Tamil film in recent times.