Dinner for Five

2001
8.2| 0h30m| en
Synopsis

Dinner for Five is a television program in which actor/filmmaker Jon Favreau and a revolving guest list of celebrities eat, drink and talk about life on and off the set and swap stories about projects past and present. The program seats screen legends next to a variety of personalities from film, television, music and comedy, resulting in an unpredictable free-for-all. The program aired on the Independent Film Channel with Favreau the co-Executive Producer with Peter Billingsley. The show format is a spontaneous, open forum for people in the entertainment community. The idea, originally conceived by Favreau, originated from a time when he went out to dinner with colleagues on a film location and exchanged filming anecdotes. Favreau said, "I thought it would be interesting to show people that side of the business". He did not want to present them in a "sensationalized way [that] they're presented in the press, but as normal people". The format featured Favreau and four guests from the entertainment industry in a restaurant with no other diners. They ordered actual food from real menus and were served by authentic waiters. There were no cue cards or previous research on the participants that would have allowed him to orchestrate the conversation and the guests were allowed to talk about whatever they wanted. The show used five cameras with the operators using long lenses so that they could be at least ten feet away from the table and not intrude on the conversation or make the guests self-conscious. The conversations lasted until the film ran out. A 25-minutes episode would be edited from the two-hour dinner.

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Reviews

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
ukkid35 As a total outsider this seems like the most incredible insight to the Hollywood machineThis has never been more prescient, and it is all the more interesting because of Favreau's career trajectoryHe is the perfect host in this environment, somehow managing to make everyone feel at ease and able to encourage guests to relay anecdotes you will never hear otherwiseYou can tell it's real because sometimes guests are so relaxed you can't actually understand what they're saying - Colin Farrell is a case in pointDfF is perfect in all respects, I hope it will be reborn for the next generation
darrell-105 I wish this show was still on the air. I have watched all four seasons on DVD over and over. I am still learning about the business of making films. So far in my career I have edited a few concert DVD's, music videos, and some wedding videos but I really want to make a small indie film. Probably very small at first. I plan on finishing my first screenplay shooting and directing it myself this year. These DVD's have been so helpful in my process. Does anyone know of any other resources like this show?Jon - KUDO'S to you for creating this great informative show. Oh, and the comedy is so sincere that I laugh out loud all of the time.Cheers to Favreau!!!
nikkilaas Okay, fair enough, I saw most of the "Dinner For Five" shows on Thanksgiving 2002 when IFC broadcasted a marathon of all the previous shows, so I probably overdosed on it. But seeing all the shows in a row gives you a good possibility to compare, without being interrupted.A few weeks before Thanksgiving I saw episode 4, and yes I was amazed by the Daryl Hannah, Marilyn Manson, Andy Dick show. Michael Rapaport was supposed to be on it, but couldn't make it. This show impressed me, it was fresh, new, and about interesting topics. It had a kind of openness to it, hardly seen in American television. Whether it was about independent film remains questionable, at least in my opinion. It was more a group of people having a dinner and talking small talk. Nothing earth shattering. Little did I know, this was episode 4 out of 8 episodes in total.Thanksgiving's marathon however did change my view of the show. Maybe I overdosed on it, yet a good show can get away with minor errors; a bad show with any errors starts to irritate. And I must say, quite bluntly, "Dinner for Five" sucks. Mostly due to the host Jon Favreau. He doesn't let any of the guests finish their anecdotes, who without exception are more interesting than him. Only people he highly respects, like Rod Steiger, or like the Andy Dick's (who don't stop talking) have a chance. Favreau, each and every time, interrupts his guests and continues talking about his own experiences, and frankly most of his work stinks. Only "Swingers" can be considered a small jewel, all other films he so endearingly refers to, are not even considered good films, except maybe for one: "Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle". Favreau talks about them as if he was the next Scorsese or Coppola, to just name two people who really would have something to say about independent film or any hardship on the set. Besides that, it was very obvious that the conversations were staged, especially in the editing, plates with desert were handed out twice, etc.Now why would I even bother to comment on a show that I liked, and now is a growing irritation? Well for a simple reason, I like and recognize a good idea, which this show certainly has the potential to be. Initially, if they were planning on making one or just a couple episodes, inviting most of your friends does seem natural -- but you can't keep that up for 8 shows, besides his colleagues/friends must be bored with his stories by now. Hopefully this idea will be continued again, but with a different host, Favreau should stick to do what he does best, playing in crappy films.
fabfemfatale Get 5 hungry celebrities together at a table and see what goes in and out of their mouths. That's Dinner for Five. Jon Favreau, what a host. I've seen so many different types of celebrities sit together and meet on a common ground, on this program. It just gets better the more the wine is poured. I am a big fan of anything that is independently filmed and you see people doing what we all do, EAT. Well, maybe not a lot of the actual eating is shown, but the dinner conversation is excellent. I hope this program lasts a few years.