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My Dinner with Hervé

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My Dinner with Hervé
Television release poster
Screenplay bySacha Gervasi
Story by
  • Sacha Gervasi
  • Sean Macaulay
Directed bySacha Gervasi
Starring
Music byDavid Norland
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producers
CinematographyMaryse Alberti
EditorCarol Littleton
Running time110 minutes
Production companyHBO Films
Original release
NetworkHBO
ReleaseOctober 20, 2018 (2018-10-20)

My Dinner with Hervé is an American television drama film written and directed by Sacha Gervasi, based on the later days of actor Hervé Villechaize, its title a riff on Louis Malle's My Dinner with Andre.[1] The film stars Peter Dinklage as Villechaize, Jamie Dornan as a struggling journalist, and Andy García as Villechaize's Fantasy Island co-star Ricardo Montalbán. It premiered on HBO on October 20, 2018,[2] and received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the performances of Dinklage and Dornan.[3]

Plot

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Danny Tate, a journalist and recovering alcoholic, is sent to LA for work, which includes interviewing actor Hervé Villechaize. Feeling insulted after Tate ends their interview to leave for another one with Gore Vidal, Villechaize chides Tate about his career. Tate pays for their meal and leaves, but arrives late for his interview with Vidal, who promptly leaves.

Later that night, Tate receives a call from Villechaize, who insists on continuing their interview. Tate decides to do so, mainly in order to prevent himself from returning to drinking. Villechaize arrives in a limo and the pair drive through the city, while Villechaize details his past, from his parents learning of his dwarfism, his mother's resentment of him and his father's efforts to cure it, to his early career as a painter. After he is assaulted, his parents send him to New York City, where he is inspired to become an actor after spending two months in his apartment watching television. After securing representation from the William Morris Agency (by means of barging into Martin Rothstein's office with a knife), Villechaize is cast in the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, earning applause from the audience as well as his mother upon its premiere. Despite the attention from The Man with the Golden Gun, Villechaize goes four years without work. He says that he kept praying and soon enough, Rothstein secures him a role in the series Fantasy Island, which renews Villechaize's popularity. Villechaize marries Camille Hagen after she guest stars on the show.

The pair go to a strip club, where Villechaize tries to coerce Tate into breaking his sobriety and get him a lap dance. Tate succumbs to temptation and has a beer, causing him to angrily storm out, intending to return to his hotel, but Villechaize convinces him to continue on with their late night odyssey, including a stop at Pink's Hot Dogs, where Villechaize takes over driving the limo and crashes it. Shortly after they continue driving, Tate presses Villechaize on his womanizing and his marriage to Hagen. This causes Villechaize to have the vehicle stopped and he storms off. Tate catches up to him, and he begins to tell his side of the story from when people started talking about him being a problem to work with, including accusing his co-star Ricardo Montalbán of having his lines taken out of scripts and hosting sexually charged parties onset. Tate accuses him of throwing his career away.

Villechaize, while Tate reads off newspaper headlines of his exploits, tosses his file out the window before bringing them to Rothstein's house to have him confirm Montalbán was after him. Rothstein confirms this, but states Montalbán was not without reason, as Villechaize begins demanding more money and missing filming dates. He starts throwing money on reckless parties and gets into a fight with Billy Barty. His behaviour results in his firing from the show. Tate and Villechaize leave Rothstein's, and get into an argument. Tate storms off but Villechaize attacks him, holding a knife to his throat. Tate goads him to kill him, but Villechaize relents, prompting Tate to unload on Villechaize, blaming him for his own problems and that he's not the only one who's had a troubled life. Villechaize agrees to finally return Tate to his hotel, but first brings him to where they shot the pilot for Fantasy Island. Here Villechaize admits to Tate and himself he's the only one to blame for his troubles.

Hagen divorces him and has a restraining order leveled against him. Villechaize surmises he likely tried to force her to love him as opposed to it being real. While appearing as Tattoo at an event he has a breakdown and lights his costume on fire, breaking down in tears in the arms of his girlfriend Kathy Self.

Tate is returned to his hotel, and he agrees to meet with Villechaize later that night. Upon entering he finds a colleague there to replace him on the Vidal job. He calls his ex-wife Katie to apologize to her and accept that he can't fix things between them, and later that night goes to meet with Villechaize one last time before he returns to England. During this meeting, Villechaize admits that his mother was not among those praising him at The Man with the Golden Gun premiere, having walked out during the screening. Tate and Villechaize take a picture together and finally part ways on friendly terms.

As he is compiling his interview, Tate learns Villechaize had committed suicide shortly after he left. He presents his article to his editor, who orders him to cut it down. He elects to resign, and instead begins to write a book, titled My Dinner with Hervé.

Cast

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Peter Dinklage portrays Hervé Villechaize in the film.

Production

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Peter Dinklage and writer-director Sacha Gervasi spent several years writing and producing a film based on the final days of actor Hervé Villechaize, who committed suicide shortly after his 1993 interview with Gervasi.[4] Dinklage stars in the title role in My Dinner with Hervé.[5][6] In May 2017, the film was approved by HBO, with Dinklage being set to co-star alongside Jamie Dornan.[7] In June 2017, Andy García was cast as Villechaize's Fantasy Island co-star Ricardo Montalbán.[8] On June 23, Mireille Enos, Oona Chaplin and Harriet Walter joined the cast.[9] On June 27, David Strathairn joined the cast.[10] On July 28, Mark Povinelli and Helena Mattsson joined the cast.[11]

Principal photography on the film began in June 2017.[12]

Reception

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Critical response

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On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[3] Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 83% based on 23 reviews, and the average score is 7.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "My Dinner with Hervé offers a standard narrative on celebrity and infamy, but formidable performances by Peter Dinklage and Jamie Dornan find the dimensionality and pathos of Hervé Villechaize the man."[13]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2019
 Critics' Choice Television Awards Best Movie Made for TV Nominated [14]
Golden Reel Awards Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Sound Effects, Foley, Music,
Dialogue and ADR for Non-Theatrical Feature Film Broadcast Media 		Odin Benitez, Byron Wilson, Charlie Campagna,
Greg Hedgepath, Dave McMoyler, Del Spiva,
Jordan McClain, Michael J. Benavente,
Nicholas Fitzgerald, Lance Povlock, and
Geordy Sincavage 		Nominated [15]
Online Film & Television Association Awards Best Motion Picture Nominated [16]
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Television Movie Steven Zaillian, Richard Middleton, Ross Katz,
Jessica de Rothschild, Sacha Gervasi,
Peter Dinklage, and Nathalie Tanner 		Nominated [17]
Producers Guild of America Awards David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television Nominated [18]
Writers Guild of America Awards Long Form – Original Teleplay by Sacha Gervasi;
Story by Sacha Gervasi and Sean Macaulay 		Nominated [19]
2020
 Guild of Music Supervisors Awards Best Music Supervision – Television Movie Evyen J. Klean and Janet Lopez Nominated [20]

References

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  1. ^ Henderson, Odie (19 October 2018). "My Dinner with Hervé". RogerEbert. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  2. ^ Evans, Greg (2018-08-24). "'My Dinner With Hervé': HBO Sets Premiere Date, Gives Sneak Peek; Peter Dinklage, Jamie Dornan Star". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  3. ^ a b "Critic Reviews for My Dinner with Hervé". Metacritic. CBS Interactive Inc. 20 October 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  4. ^ Dan Kois (March 29, 2012). "Peter Dinklage Was Smart to Say No". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 1, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  5. ^ Jagernauth, Kevin (April 19, 2011). "James McAvoy Reading Sacha Gervasi's 'My Dinner With Hervé'". IndieWire. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  6. ^ Wenn (April 19, 2013). "Sacha Gervasi — Peter Dinklage: 'Herve Villechaize Biopic Is Based On Director's Final Interview'". Contactmusic.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2013. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
  7. ^ Wagmeister, Elizabeth (May 9, 2017). "Peter Dinklage and Jamie Dornan Team Up for HBO Film". Variety. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  8. ^ "'My Dinner With Hervé': First-Look Photo Of Peter Dinklage As Hervé Villechaize In HBO Movie". Deadline Hollywood. June 23, 2017. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
  9. ^ Petski, Denise (June 23, 2017). "'My Dinner With Hervé': Mireille Enos Among Three Cast In HBO Movie". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  10. ^ Petski, Denise (June 27, 2017). "'My Dinner With Hervé': David Strathairn Cast In HBO Movie". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  11. ^ Petski, Denise (July 28, 2017). "'My Dinner With Hervé': Mark Povinelli & Helena Mattsson Join Cast Of HBO Movie". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  12. ^ Lesnick, Silas (June 23, 2017). "Take a First Look at HBO's My Dinner with Herve". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  13. ^ "My Dinner With Hervé". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  14. ^ Crist, Allison (January 13, 2019). "Critics' Choice Awards: 'Roma,' 'Americans,' 'Mrs. Maisel' Top Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  15. ^ "'Bohemian Rhapsody', 'A Quiet Place' Take Top Sound Editing Honors at the MPSE Golden Reel Awards". IndieWire. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  16. ^ "23rd Annual TV Awards (2018-19)". Online Film & Television Association. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  17. ^ "My Dinner with Hervé". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  18. ^ McNary, Dave (January 20, 2019). "PGA Awards: 'Green Book' Wins Top Feature Film Award". Variety. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  19. ^ Hipes, Patrick (December 6, 2018). "WGA Awards TV Nominations: 'The Handmaid's Tale', 'Barry', 'SNL' Make List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  20. ^ "10th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards". Guild of Music Supervisors Awards. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
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