Just so...so bad

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Pierre Durois, a maths teacher at a girls' college, is a humble man : all he wants from life is the respect of his pupils and the love of the pretty gym teacher, to whom he is engaged. Pierre is a citizen of the most blameless rectitude, but he does have a more disreputable friend, who works for a scandal sheet and thinks nothing of taking illicit pictures of a female movie star having a nude swim. The said friend embroils Pierre in series of adventures which will change his life into a three-ring circus...Another classic French comedy, although a classic French comedy which, for one reason or another, never charmed or amused me as much as it should have. As a result I can't say this is a personal favorite. Still, it's easy to see why it became so successful : the performances (especially by Pierre Richard, Claude Piéplu and Jane Birkin) are good and there are quite a lot of visual gags and stunts to enjoy. There is also no lack of targets. Among the subjects and persons lampooned : Henry Kissinger / American foreign policy / political parties harping on morals and values / journalism / scandal sheets / gays / movie making / the western genre / groupies / surgery /... but I fear my laptop is getting tired. Note the quality of the stuntwork, which was choreographed by one of the most famous "cascadeurs" of his time. In case you're wondering about Kissinger, he shows up, thinly disguised, as the secret lover of the female star who likes to swim in the nude. His love goddess has a sad tendency to telephone him while he's busy negotiating in some far-off Eastern country - could this be Vietnam ? At least two scenes have achieved cinematic immortality. One is a scene where the hapless Pierre fights off a hunting leopard, in a closet (!) ; the other one has the movie star going medieval on a group of stuntmen, during a classic western saloon fight.

The cast is terrific in this unpretentious little comedy.Pierre Richard is certainly very funny in his part of a scatterbrained maths teacher.But his two co-stars almost steal the show from him.An excellent Claude Piéplu -and his inimitable high-pitched voice- plays his father ,a very very serious father,in direct contrast to the gentle self-conscious guy.He has big ambitions as a local politician. Jane Birkin is equally good and she proves that a good -looking girl is not necessarily a bimbo:my favorite scene is the one when Birkin asks Richard to prove he is really a maths teacher.She puts him to the test and he has to recite ....the identities!Not a great comedy but a pleasant one.

Master of French comedies Claude Zidi is a well known director of lovely movies and this is one of the first that stars French comedian Pierre Richard who looked more than a white poodle but you can forgive him the sign of the times.The movie starts with great shots from Jane Birkin (the wife from Serge Gainsbourg) who is a big superstar. Everybody wants to take photos from her (also a friend of Pierre Richard) and one moment Pierre sees a photo from her... But he not alone, also his pupils as he is a teacher in maths...and son of a politician who is fighting against sexy posters in his towns. Of course you can guess the rest, Pierre lands by Birkin and the whole press jumps on it while the career of his dad looks to be destroyed. Why do I all tell this? The story isn't important at all, this is just fine entertainment in where you can have a good laugh for 90 minutes and you can even see Jane Birkin.