Director Sacha Gevasi
Starring Peter Dinklage, Jamie Dornan, Frida Munting
Rated M
Score 6/6

A look at the life of French actor Hervé Villechaize, co-star of the hit ’70s TV series “Fantasy Island”, who took his own life in 1993 at the age of 50.

I’m not entirely sure why I decided to watch this one. As far as I know My Dinner with Hervé or its trailer did not get any play at the friendly neighbourhood cinema. So, I suppose the desire to watch My Dinner with Hervé took up space in my head after seeing it talked about on one of the late-night American talk shows.
Now for those of you who might be interested My Dinner with Hervé is based on interviews conducted with director Sacha Gevasi he conducted with Hervé Villechaize, days before the actor’s suicide. Also considering that this was a passion project for star Peter Dinklage, it’s a fair assumption that the level of ‘Hollywood magic’ that biopics have to endure in regards to the plot was probably kept to a minimum.

I will admit that all I really know of Hervé Villechaize’s work is that he starred in Fantasy Island and that he played Nick Nack in The Man with The Golden Gun (a Bond movie that I haven’t watched in more then a few years) so I personally found the interview that was conducted in the movie to be very interesting. It painted Villechaize as a passionate man who loved life who yet in the same breath was a tragic figure.

As you would expect Peter Dinklage was amazing as Villechaize right down to the accent and Jamie Dorman gave a great performance that certainly caused me to look at his abilities as an actor in a different light. Dinklage and Dorman where brilliant together. Though the time it has been since I have watched an episode of Fantasy Island is way longer since the last time I watched The Man with The Golden Gun the relationship between Villechaize and Ricardo Montalbán (played brilliantly by Andy Garcia) cast the show in a slightly different light.
My Dinner with Hervé does get a little depressing in places, so consider yourself warned. But without giving away any spoilers what I will say is that last twenty minutes of the movie when all the bullshit between Villechaize and Dorman’s character Danny Tate makes the movie feel that it was worth watching.