Dinner for Spinners

With "Le dîner de cons" (in Germany "Dinner for Spinners") comedy specialist Francis Veber achieved one of his (so far) last great successes in 1998. Not only as a film, but also as a play, the biting fun won over critics and audiences alike. Jay Roach, who also specializes in comedy ("Austin Powers", "My Bride, Her Father and Me"), has now taken on the material and adapted it for the American market. The result has its moments, but is nowhere near as compelling as the French original.

The story, at least at its core, is the same: Tim (Paul Rudd) is desperately trying to move up in his company. Not only does he want to give his girlfriend (Stephanie Stostak) a certain lifestyle, he also wants to finally prove to his boss Lance Fender (Bruce Greenwood) what he's made of. And indeed, he gets a chance to do so, but it looks a little different than Tim had imagined: he receives an invitation to a very special dinner at Mr. Fender's house, to which each invitee is supposed to bring another guest who has very special talents. However, this is not to impress the company, but to amuse them. The idea is that whoever brings the biggest nutcase will be the winner of the evening. At first Tim is morally disgusted by this idea, but when the dorky Barry (Steve Carell), clerk at the tax office, runs in front of his car, and then it turns out that he pursues an extremely bizarre hobby, Tim sees his chance come. But of course, everything turns out differently than he planned...

The U.S. version of "Dinner for Spinners" boasts a great comedy cast, especially in the supporting roles. Star ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, "Hangover" star Zach Galifianakis or David Walliams known from "Little Britain" provide some very good laughs with their short appearances. And yet the film can only convince to a limited extent. Because the gags always move on the very thin line between hilarious and extreme Fremdschämen. And unfortunately, the latter moments clearly prevail at the end.

It is Roach in principle highly creditable that he has delivered no pure remake, but the known story quite own ideas added. So there are subplots that are either completely new, or at least significantly expanded compared to the original. It's nice that at least an attempt was made to add new aspects to the well-known. But unfortunately, this praiseworthy fact is also one of the film's biggest weak points. Because again and again Roach overshoots the mark with his staging, turns good templates into flat silliness or rides decent gags to death.

The actors can not be blamed here. Steve Carell is the perfect "spinner", Paul Rudd, as in his recent roles, is the likeable "anyone" and Bruce Greenwood is just great sleazy as the head of the "dinner for spinners". But even the great playfulness of the actors and a few nice ideas (which also include the nicely designed opening and closing credits) can not prevent that Jay Roach's version of the French hit comedy can generate too few real laughs to play in a league with the original. Therefore, if you like a bit of silliness and are into loopy US comedy, you might well get your money's worth here. But if you are looking for the originality and charm of the original, you will surely be disappointed

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp