Product Details

• Actors: Jon Favreau, Joey Lauren Adams, Peter Berg, Kevin James, Jeanne Tripplehorn
• Directors: Chris Donovan
• Producers: Jon Favreau, Chris Donovan, Alison Palmer Bourke, Caroline Kaplan, Chad Horning
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Unknown)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Fox Lorber
• DVD Release Date: August 17, 2004
• Run Time: 314 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002CHJL4
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #60,447 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  Movies & TV > Television > TV Series By Letter > D > Dinner for Five

• For more information about "Dinner for Five - Season 1" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
For filmmakers, actors, and chronic eavesdroppers everywhere, it's a genuine privilege to watch Dinner for Five. As the congenial host of this popular Independent Film Channel series, writer-director-actor Jon Favreau (Swingers, Made, Elf) brings credibility and comfort to his diverse quartets of dinner guests, all of whom bring valuable experience to the table. A certain degree of self-censorship and diplomacy is to be expected, but Favreau encourages candor and free-flowing insight as his famous guests enjoy fine dining in trendy Los Angeles and New York City restaurants (all of which are detailed in a helpful bonus feature). The series' intimate concept allows guests (from TV, film, and music) to loosen up and reveal the inner workings of the entertainment world, primarily (but not exclusively) from the perspective of acting--a profession as heartbreaking as it is potentially rewarding.

Ranging from 22 to 40 minutes in length, each episode offers memorable revelations (Joey Lauren Adams dislikes filming love scenes; Peter Falk calls Vince Vaughn a scene-stealing "hog"; Ron Livingstone jokingly speculates about "the dark side" of Tom Hanks; Juliette Lewis recalls her famous seduction scene with Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's Cape Fear; Marilyn Manson demonstrates his strip-club expertise, etc.), and the entire series has an irresistible fly-on-the-wall allure, dispensing with the regimented phoniness of publicity-driven interviews. Best of all is the editing and thorough but mostly-invisible camera coverage that captures revealing, non-verbal exchanges between guests who may or may not know or like each other, and whose expressions speak volumes about themselves and the people around them. Varying degrees of looseness or tension turn Dinner for Five into a frequently humorous, universally revealing social experiment, removed from the context of celebrity. These are real people with real quirks and foibles, and that makes them all the more endearing, especially in deleted segments and outtakes. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description
"...not just informative and entertaining, but also pleasantly authentic and intimate in the current publicist-controlled era." -Elle Magazine "It’s free-flowing and uncensored, sometimes vulgar, sometimes deep, sometimes just plain silly - like a real dinner party, because it is a real dinner party." -The Philadelphia Inquirer "It’s funny, original and refreshing, this series with candid roundtable discussions and good grub. Between bites, Jon Favreau’s dinner guests tell what goes on behind the scenes in filmmaking and television production... It’s as uncanny as it is unscripted... Even if you can’t dine and converse with them - the camera direction makes you feel you’re part of the conversation. The dinner talk often involves meaty issues concerning the entertainment industry and offers a look at life beyond the red carpet." -Hollywood Reporter Jon Favreau sits down with a variety of personalities from film, television, music and comedy, for a frank discussion of the acting industry, the movie business in general, and of celebrity, in particular. DVD extras include: Option to view enhanced commentary, Never before seen segments, Outtakes, Guest biographies

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whatever you think of Jon Favreau the actor/director..., June 5, 2004

By	P.F.C. (Madison, WI) - See all my reviews

...he has put together a series worth its weight in gold. Improbably, just by putting himself and four other actors together around a table for dinner and conversation, he brings out fascinating and incredibly funny human beings behind the faces. Although a few episodes fall flat, failing to achieve the right chemistry, more often than not they're suprisingly perfect. I love it. Favreau has, as The Onion used to put it, justified his existence.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Finally Coming!!, June 27, 2004

By	"babushkaman" (Hollywood, FL USA) - See all my reviews

Having been a long time Jon Favreau fan I was "jazzed" when this Series debuted on IFC. Having missed a few and failed to tape some episodes, I was equally jazzed that there was a dvd, complete w/ extra footage. However it was only available as a Netflix Rental. I searched and searched Amazon and other sites, but to no avail. Finally I see it is going to be commercially released.
The format is perfect. Although edited, it really captures the spirit of a truly impromptu, unrehearsed get-together. It feels like your sitting down to dinner with your Favorite stars or just good old friends. I'm glad to see IFC is continuing the series and hope there are more dvd's to follow.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Please enter a title for your review, September 16, 2005

By	pancake_repairman "pancake_repairman" (gfjdhgfjhgj) - See all my reviews

I bought this mainly as a Sarah Silverman fan, not even realising the host, Jon Favreau, was the guy behind Swingers, a movie I also liked, so that was gravy. I was expecting each episode to be one continuous conversation, but it's edited down to a series of 3-minute sections. Faizon Love making fun of Ice Cube's directorial abilities was funny. Marilyn Manson seemed surprisingly grounded. Joey Lauren Adams talks about being mistaken for Renee Zellweger. I like that the show exists and that I got to see it, but I expected something more.