The greatest movie ever!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Some movie get old well, other don't: this one is rather among the latter: I can't say it's bad but it is not as much fun as I thought it was. I watched it as a kid for sure but I can't remember if it was on screen or at TV. There is some funny moments and for sure this duo always works great and is among the best in french cinema but here the story is a bit far fetched: to find a goofy and unlucky woman in south America, the solution is to send a goofy and unlucky investigator… Well, like Gerard, I'm not really convinced and it's above all very repetitive and totally predictable… The Mexican locations adds a bit exoticism but at the end, it's not in my classics….

With so many scripts such as "The Tall Blond with a Black Shoe", "A Pain in the Ass" and the internationally acclaimed "The Birdcage", Francis Veber already confirmed in the 70's his status as one of the most promising and talented comedic screenwriters of French Cinema, the equivalent of Billy Wilder if we also take his directing into consideration. But in the early 80's, he had only directed one movie called "The Toy", starring Pierre Richard and released in 1976. And although the film was a modest commercial success, it was not until the release of "The Goat" in 1981 that Veber made his deserved entrance in French Comedy's Hall of Fame."The Goat" is now regarded as a classic of French comedy and a film that didn't lose its appeal after 30 years. Featuring for the first time the duo made of Gerard Depardieu and Pierre Richard, who would appear in two other films, the film uses the basic ingredients of the typical buddy movie with the funny guy and the straight one, in other words, the eternal "odd couple", but that's only on the surface, don't let yourself fooled by the poster. Behind the laughter, "The Goat" accomplishes something more impressive, it makes us care for the two characters and not just on a comedic aspect. Indeed, no matter how funny the gags are, what makes the film so impacting is the progressive bond going between Campana (Depardieu) and Perrin (Richard), who'll learn to get along despite their differences. Any other director would have made this material cliché, but Veber always finds the right note, and seems to get the best from the two lead actors, making the supporting cast more forgettable and guilty of providing a false feeling of B-movie. For instance, the movie is set in Mexico, but people there speak good French with no accent whatsoever, these details were perceived as futile precisely because the story was the most important.I don't want to make the film sound serious when it's indeed a great comedy, still funny and fresh by today's standards. My point is that the core of the film is the relationship transcended by Depardieu and Richard's incredible performances. Pierre Richard is like the 'Steve Martin' of French comedy, with a natural clown-face that made him the perfect lovable loser of French Cinema. Richard plays François Perrin, a modest accountant so unlucky and accident prone that no day of his life passes without him being victim of a misfortune. What could have lead to a series of goofy situations is not overdone in the film as the point is not Perrin's bad luck, but how his bad luck would lead to the rich businessman's daughter, Marie. This point is essential because it explains the failure of the dreadful American remake: "Pure Luck" (starring Danny Glover and Martin Short). Marie appears in the first scenes, she's kidnapped in Mexico and apparently suffers from the same bad-luck syndrome than Perrin. After many fruitless investigations, the father's psychologist suggests that the detective Campana goes back to Mexico with Perrin, feeling that this time, Perrin's bad luck would be the compass guiding them to Marie.We laugh at this premise that flirts with fantasy, and of course, Campana, the tough-guy detective played by Gerard Depardieu comfort our feelings and embodies our thoughts. He's a no-nonsense guy, reasonable and don't believe in luck or hazard, but It's a last-chance mission and Perrin, after having given a luminous demonstration of his daily bad luck through a funny test involving chairs, is chosen for "his remarkable intelligence and perspicacity" to look for Marie, with Campana as an assistant. The duo works perfectly, because Perrin is not naturally funny, but funny despite himself, he takes his role, his mission so seriously that he's incapable to realize his total incompetence. And we see him trough the condescending eyes of Campana. I read in the Trivia section that Depardieu wanted to play Perrin's part; this proves that he's one hell of an actor, but not much of a casting agent. Depardieu, as the duo's straight-man, is the one who makes the situations funny. When Perrin accidentally burns Campana's tie, it's funny okay but the look on Depardieu's deadpan face is the laugh-out-loud pay-off. Depardieu's reactions are almost as equally hilarious as Richard's clumsiness, if not more.And as the story progresses, and some of Richard's misadventures start to give clues about Marie's disappearance, we understand that the psychologist's theories are not without validity, but at this precise moment, the focus is more on Depardieu and Richard's odd couple, and its evolution, especially when Campana's confidence about the nonexistence of bad or good luck starts to be seriously shaken, through his companionship with Perrin. At one point, both are in jail with another prisoner, and then they're informed that every day, the guards take one prisoner to beat him badly, Depardieu's pitiful face while looking at Richard, made me laugh so hard, but the twist that went after literally killed me. If only for the 'prison part' which is pure comedy gold, the film deserves to be a classic among the classics. Although, I would have done it without some gags, like the inexcusable gorilla coming from nowhere, while there are no Apes in South America. Apart from this one, the rest works perfectly.And speaking of South America, the film also possesses an undeniable escapist value from the setting, something that would appeal to every audience, and it's beautifully served by whom I believe to be the greatest French composer ever: Vladimir Cosma. Cosma who scored Veber's films and some of the most classic French comedies beautifully conveys this mix of exoticness and melancholy in his theme and it perfectly serves the film's conclusion, which is as poetic and satisfying as any other movie's endings, magnificently closing the first opus of one of the most defining duos of French comedy: Gerard Depardieu and Pierre Richard.

This is one of the best french comedies. It has a good plot, humor and acting. Pierre Richard and Gérard Depardieu make a great comic duo. This movie was remade in USA and named "pure luck" but i think french version was funnier and the acting was much better than in American version. Althou if you already seen the American version than there is no point watching this because even jokes were the same in both versions. On the other hand i've watch this one only after watching "pure luck" and i still liked this version more. I don't know what more i could say about this film just watch it. And if you liked this one you should watch other Pierre Richard and Gérard Depardieu films like Les Compères and Les Fugitifs, they all were directed by Francis Veber.

The film seems to me to be the best comedy ever. Both Richard and Depardieu are wonderful. The film abounds in comic situations, but the dialogue is even better - lively, volatile, "French". It is both a comedy of situations and a comedy of words. This film is like a Mont Blanc among comedies. It's a pity that few people bother to vote for it. In Russia a generation grew up laughing at the characters of Richard, and this generation was far from being the worst. His films are pure joy.