MY DINNER WITH ANDRE. I remember seeing this movie when it came out. It really struck me even back then. I was in a line of work where I traveled to various places and countries which completed changed my world view. Here's why this movie resonated with me:

This movie is about two childhood friends (now in their 40's) who went their separate ways long ago and have recently found each other again. One of them has been living outside the country and is back in town. They have a long dinner in an old diner they used to frequent in the small town where they both grew up. They spend hours talking and catching up.

They tell each other about what they've been doing for all these years. The contrast is striking. One of them never left town, still lives on the same street, goes to the same coffee shop every week, enjoys his smalltown girlfriend and the mundane routine of every day life. He works a low-wage repetitive job and has no desire to go anywhere or change anything. He is generally satisfied with his life and unbothered.

The other fellow, named Andre, had early financial success and fame, and then went off on a life journey, traveled all over the world, experienced mystical things, foreign ideas, hallucinogens, poverty, extreme hardship (by choice), volunteered to help distressed people, studied with monks and other elder 'teachers', and saw things from the 40,000 ft. view. He also did narcissistic, selfish things, indulged himself and realized in the end, what is important and what isn't. His eyes were opened and he experienced a huge epiphany about life and what his part has been in it. He seeks to make a positive difference now, but doesn't know how, causing him great anguish.

As he tells his old friend these amazing and bizarre experiences, his friend listens with half an ear, enjoys his meal of meatloaf and potatoes, and smiles at the idea that he is going to treat himself to a cab ride home, because his friend is paying the dinner check.

They part ways, never to see each other again.

The end takeaway (to me anyway) is that the small-minded see nothing beyond their routine and nothing you say will ever matter to them, nor will they even grasp what it is that you are sharing with them.

The rest of us '40,000 ft. view' people are full of hard-won knowledge and as such are also full of anguish as we ponder what we know and what, if anything we can do about it. Not surprisingly, Andre's take on the world still holds true 40 years later!