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With such a strong curriculum vitae in comedy films, having Jay Roach direct a remake of Francis Veber’s Le Dîner de Cons looks great on paper. But when it comes time to write, direct, and release the movie, does it hold up as well?
Francis Veber had written plays, TV shows, and films. He had also directed plenty of well by the time he decided to adapt his hit play “Le Dîner de Cons” for the big screen. Luckily, his brand of farcical humor worked brilliantly with the film version, and it became a huge hit in his home country of France. Join us as we continue our Francis Veber & His Remakes series with his 1998 film “Le Dîner de Cons.”
When Mike Nichols and Elaine May teamed up again for the first time in over thirty years, it was to adapt Francis Veber’s most famous and celebrated works, the 1978 film la Cage aux Folles. Veber’s films had been remade in English before – in fact, he’d directed a number of them – but this one was the big one so it needed to be big.
When asked to adapt the hit stage show “La Cage Aux Folles” to the big screen, director Édouard Molinaro knew he had to get comedy writer/director Francis Veber involved to not only get the story out of the one-set show and open up the world, but also — and more importantly — to flesh out the core relationship so the film wasn’t just all stereotypes.