A madcap French comedy which focuses on a somewhat jaded publisher. Every Wednesday he and his friends hold an idiot dinner in which they bring the stupidest person they can find to be mocked. Having found what he believes to be the prize idiot of all he invites him to his home and then watches as his life slowly unravels. Blessed with a kind heart the idiot tries to help as best he can and each attempt to help exacerbates an already out of control situation.
When I was first getting into French cinema I kept having this recommended to me. I didn't really have a taste for French humour at the time and so I avoided it until today. It's a shame because this is a genuinely great piece of work which is just hilarious at times.
Thierry Lhermitte plays Brochant, the publisher, and Jacques Villeret plays Francois Pignon the idiot. What makes the film work so well is that it has no qualms whatsoever about ruining Brochant's life. It places him initially in a position of arrogance and then systematically destroys his life. The more Pignon attempts to help Brochant the more Brochant's life goes awry and we welcome every calamity because Brochant is a truly despicable bastard. Pignon in comparison is generally sweet, if a little distractable, and it's his heart which stops the movie feeling mean. He is just trying his best to help and he essentially acts as an avatar for Brochant to make his life worse.
It's got a really infectious energy and is genuinely funny so if you haven't seen it do try and check it out.
If you're British you can catch it on Iplayer until Friday 28th January at the below link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b007sfr0/Le_diner_de_cons/
