Line #40 Film/TheDinnerGame


1	[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/00000_000001_copie2_4.jpg]]
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3	Every Wednesday, French editor Pierre Brochant (Creator/ThierryLhermitte) and some of his friends organize a very special dinner: a "dîner de cons" (Literally: "Dinner of shmucks"), where whoever brings the dumbest guest wins.
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5	Desperate to find a suitable candidate for the week, Brochant invites a friend's recommendation: François Pignon (Creator/JacquesVilleret), a taxman who build models out of matchsticks and seems like "a real winner". Unfortunately, Brochant hadn't exactly counted on the fact that on the evening of the dinner, he'd have thrown his back playing golf, his wife would have left him and he'd be stuck at home, alone with Pignon, who's a goofball extraordinaire...
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7	A 1998 French comedy[=/=]{{farce}} directed and written by Creator/FrancisVeber, ''Le dîner de cons'' (''The Dinner Game'') was a financial and critical success in France and in the United Kingdom. [[TheFilmOfThePlay Based on Veber's long-running play of the same name]], the movie won Best Scenario, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor at the Césars Awards. The song "Le temps ne fait rien à l'affaire" by Music/GeorgesBrassens was used for the opening credits.
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9	It was [[ForeignRemake remade in America]] as ''Film/DinnerForSchmucks''.
10	----
11	!!Examples
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13	* BelievingTheirOwnLies: Pignon calls Leblanc as a Belgian film producer to get informations on Brochant's wife. He ends up hanging up without any information on the wife - but he sure is going to get the movie rights for cheap.
14	* BlackComedy: Only lightly.
15	* TheCasanova: Pascal Meneaux has this reputation, so Pierre Brochant is very worried when he thinks that his wife is in his flat. This reputation is justified: he has sex with the wife of his [[spoiler:tax inspector, Lucien Cheval]].
16	* CountryMatters: The ''literal'' translation of "diner de cons" is, well, let's say it's something slightly ruder than "[[Film/DinnerForSchmucks schmuck]]". The French word ''con'' is now (almost) only used to mean an idiot/moron, but its mainly-forgotten ''actual'' meaning is much more offensive in English. (Of course, the ''actual'' meaning of "schmuck" is the male equivalent, so the translated title is perfectly appropriate).
17	* CrackOhMyBack: Brochant hurts his back playing golf, and spends most of the film nursing his back injury. Said injury is what prevents him from taking Pignon to the dinner in the first place.
18	* TheDitz: Pignon
19	* DramaticIrony: Pignon takes a woman from Pierre Brochant's flat. Pignon thinks that she is Marlène Sasseur, but the audience knows that she is actually Brochant's wife. Pignon and Brochant will realize this mistake only when the real Marlène Sasseur shows up.
20	* DrivenToSuicide: Marlène threatens to commit suicide if Pignon hangs up the phone.
21	* DumbIsGood: Pignon is a well-intentioned idiot with a sometimes heartwarming compassion for people he's barely met, Brochant is a smug intellectual snob who mistreats his closest friends.
22	* FalseReassurance: When Brochant tells a friend on the phone that Pignon "looks like a real winner" ("''Il a une belle tête de vainqueur"''). Pignon sees it as proof that he's going to get a book deal. Brochant knows his friends thinks about the dinner.
23	* TheFilmOfThePlay: A faithful adaptation of the 1993 play of the same name. Jacques Villeret takes up again his stage role.
24	* HereWeGoAgain: After the moral of the story and Pignon managing to fix everything in the span of several minutes, he manages to piss off Brochant's wife ''again'' by accidentally implying Brochant was feeding him lines.
25	* IntimidatingRevenueService: The reason why the music for Cheval's arrival is the theme from ''Film/{{Jaws}}''
26	* JerkAss: Pierre Brochant is an elitist snob who takes part in dinners that mock people and cheats on his wife.
27	* TheKlutz: François Pignon is very clumsy.
28	* LaserGuidedKarma: Brochant is a jerkass. He stole his friend's wife. He cheated on her. He rejects his mistress. Oh, and his hobby is to make fun of people who are idiots in his opinion. In the end, he has thrown his back, his wife left him, his mistress does not want to meet him again, and his incomes will be controlled by the Ministry of Finance. [[spoiler:{{Subverted\|Trope}}, because Pignon decides to help him even if he knows why Brochant invited him and he manages to reconcile Brochant and his wife. [[DoubleSubversion Double subverted]], because finally Pignon ruins everything.]]
29	* LethalChef: Brochant, when he tries to turn his expensive wine into lower quality claret. Amusingly, he actually makes it ''better'', before making it worse
30	* LoveTriangle: Brochant stole Leblanc's wife. Pignon's wife was stolen by one of his colleagues.
31	* MistakenIdentity: Pignon mistakes Brochant's wife for Marlène Sasseur.
32	* TheMistress: Marlène Sasseur has been Pierre Brochant's mistress for 2 years.
33	* MostWritersAreWriters: Christine Brochant, Juste Leblanc, and Marlène Sasseur are all writers. Pierre Brochant is a publisher.
34	* NiceGuy: Pignon, although in his case it's because DumbIsGood.
35	* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Pignon's Belgian accent, when Juste asks him a question he doesn't expect.
36	* PrankDate: Dr Sorbier explains that, when he was a student, he participated in "Dogfight" prank dates. Each participant had to bring the ugliest date. He notes the similarity with the dinner game, which is a non-romantic version of the prank date.
37	* PunnyName:
38	** Juste Leblanc.
39	** Also, Marlène Sasseur, which sounds like "Marlène sa soeur" (in French, "Marlene his sister").
40	* RedAndWhiteComedyPoster: See the poster here above.
41	* TheRemake: ''Film/DinnerForSchmucks''
42	* RuleOfSymbolism: The opening scene shows someone throwing a boomerang. The boomerang comes back and hits the thrower in the face. This is a symbol of the fate of Brochant, who intends to make fun of Pignon, but will suffer from the effects of his own joke.
43	* SlobsVersusSnobs: Brochant and his friends are much wealthier than the people they make fun of. Their different lifestyles are emphasized: for example, Pignon and Cheval enjoy watching a popular sport like soccer, whereas Brochant plays golf.
44	* SmarterThanYouLook: Pignon seems to be really stupid, but in the end [[spoiler:he manages to reconcile Brochant and his wife. {{Subverted\|Trope}}, because he ruins everything shortly after.]]
45	* SpannerInTheWorks: Pignon ruins Brochant's plans. First, he falls on Brochant, so Brochant's back still hurts more. Then, he calls Marlène Sasseur instead of Dr Sorbier. And this is just the beginning of the film.
46	* ToughRoom: Brochant's reaction to Cheval's jokes when he thinks his wife is at Meneaux's.
47	* TruthInTelevision: Veber wrote the play when he heard about dinners of the kind being actually organized by Parisian snobs.
48	* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Main character Brochant takes part in the dinners, [[spoiler: stole his best friend's wife, cheated on her for two years, and now refuses to acknowledge his mistress' existence]]. This is lampshaded in the end by Brochant, who, while [[spoiler:trying to commit suicide]], moans about how everyone hates him and that even an idiot like Pignon will hate "meanie Brochant".
49	* UnwantedAssistance: Brochant thinks this of Pignon, after he's managed to fall on him.
50	* VitriolicBestBuds: François Pignon and Lucien Cheval often argue with each other, especially since they support different soccer teams. However, they are still friends. Pignon even says that they argue often but they adore each other.
51	* WhosOnFirst:
52	** Actually a plot point, when Pignon thinks Marlène is Brochant's sister because her name is Sasseur ("His sister").
53	** And later, when he's told Leblanc's name is "Juste Leblanc"; "He doesn't have a first name?"
54	--->''"Votre nom à vous c'est François, c'est juste? Eh bien, lui, c'est pareil, c'est Juste."''
55	--->Badly translated (juste in French can mean both right and only) ''"Your name, it's François, it's right? Well, him, that's the same, it's Right".
56	* WithFriendsLikeThese:
57	** Brochant is Leblanc's friend, but he stole his wife.
58	** Pignon to Brochant, at least in the first part of the movie, when he tries to help him and makes everything worse.

Context Film / TheDinnerGame