The ComDads (1983)

the audience applauded

Memorable, crazy movie

A different way of telling a story

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Well, this is the middle movie of this comedy trilogy assembling Veber, Gérard & Pierre and this is one for which i don't feel very connected : sure there is a funny moments with the 3 dads story lines but at it's the last one i watched, it's like i saw the same movie 3 times : indeed, it's always the same plot : find a missing child, 2 ways of investigation : punchy with Gérard and goofy with Pierre… Here we don't have the exoticism of Mexico but French Riviera : however as in the future Fugitifs in Bordeaux, this is not the bling-bling Nice (except Negresco hotel) but rather its slums… So it's a movie that smells good the great 80s in France but not as good as the 2 others...

If the ability to take the mundane and put topspin on it is not one of the criteria for genius perhaps it should be. Frank Loesser for example could and did write love songs about 1) a dripping tap and 2)a term used by professional gamblers to describe an easy mark and ANOTHER Frank, Francis Veber can take the most hackneyed plot and spin a glorious web out of it. One tends to lose count of the times a woman has told several men that they fathered her child - Buona Sera, Mrs Campbell, for one. Patrice Leconte put spin on Veber with his 50 - 50 Chance in which the child (Vanessa Paradis) seeks out her two possible fathers (Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo) only to involve them all in gang-wars. Here Veber brings together a pragmatic journalist and a milquetoast teacher and throws in everything except the kitchen sink. It never lets up on the thrills or the laffs and the playing is excellent. 9/10

This films rocks and rolls, all with a special French flavor, a soupcon of danger, many droll scenes, yet never quite too wild to be entirely unbelievable. Depardieu cannot be compared with any other actor in the world; his talent and the vast number and variety of roles he's played are astounding. He's been funny in many films; he's more famous for his most dramatic, tragic roles, naturally -- but, for me, this is his most riotous role -- and he's the straight man, essentially. A hard thing to pull off well. I liked "Les Comperes" better than "La Chevre" -- the other, earlier pairing of Richard and Depardieu. Both films are quite funny; both actors are excellent here. This film touched a nerve with me -- as a stepfather. Later, of course, the movie got remade in America with Robin Williams and Billy Crystal -- but the magic wasn't there. The real American partner to the original "Les Comperes" is the Danny Glover and Martin Short film "Pure Luck." It's my own personal theory that "Pure Luck" is a ripoff of "Les Comperes." I mean no ill-will here. The "ripoff" is a fair one; ideas cannot be copyrighted, nor should they be -- good writers "borrow"; great ones steal. Well, "Pure Luck" has the same central chemistry; Glover and Short play off each other in an identical fashion to Richard and Depardieu. Instead of looking for a run-off young teenage boy, we have a daughter missing and a rich, corporate dad concerned -- versus a sexy, wily, strong-willed French mother in "Les Comperes." The daughter in "Pure Luck" is chronologically older, in her twenties, but her mind is, well, let's say calling her "childlike" would be overly charitable. The daughter adds to the magic in "Pure Luck" -- in "Les Comperes" the missing son is mainly that -- missing. But that's exactly as it should be, the two dads are what's it's all about. Both are excellent films. If you know some French or a lot, or if you don't mind subtitles, or if the dubbed version is very well done -- "Les Comperes" will reward you tremendously for your time. It's the better film, the more enduring -- because it remains closer to reality throughout, despite much typically Gallic, but still recognizably universal male zaniness. And it has warmth, even romance -- plus the missing boy keeps a real concern at the center of the film. It's fair to call "Pure Luck" slapstick -- but slapstick at its very best. "Les Comperes" may occasionally approach slapstick, but deserves a higher regard. Its insights are much deeper and its comic-view is more subtle (but only so in comparison to "Pure Luck"). I mean, you can't miss the humor here. See both; let me know what you think. Aren't they uncannily similar? Women will probably enjoy "Les Comperes" more, too, because of the strong role of the French mother, her self-confidence, her power over all the men -- and all so gracefully, elegantly done.

Richard and Depardieu can't team up enough for my liking, and although this does not quite measure up to their earlier effort, "La Chevre", this is still a terrific film that wonderfully displays their great comedic talents. It doesn't manage to sustain the craziness all the way through, but it does contain a barrel full of laughs that help to make this another fine French comedy.