The Dinner Game

Francis Veber wrote the play first. It opened on 18 September 1993 at the Théâtre des Variétés in Paris, staged by Pierre Mondy, with Jacques Villeret already playing Pignon there. The stage Brochant was Claude Brasseur; on film the part went to Thierry Lhermitte. The timing you watch had been tested night after night for years. It sold 9.2 million tickets in France and was the most watched French production of 1998, with only Titanic ahead of it overall. At the 24th César Awards it took 6 nominations and won 3: actor for Villeret, supporting actor for Daniel Prévost, screenplay, original or adaptation, for Veber. Best Film went to The Dreamlife of Angels, direction to Patrice Chéreau, and Catherine Frot lost in the supporting actress category. The name Pignon recurs across Veber’s work; the leads of L’Emmerdeur, Les Compères and Le Placard carry it too. The story has been remade 4 times, in 3 languages in India and in the United States as Dinner for Schmucks, directed by Jay Roach. A good fit if you want the ready made timing that comes of Villeret having played the part on stage for years. Not for anyone uneasy watching the man being mocked fail to notice any of it; that is the rule of the game.