The ComDads (1983)

The greatest movie ever made..!

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

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...

In 1981, Francis Veber directed a smash hit film, "La Chèvre" (THE GOAT). While I will admit that the film at times was awfully silly and a bit dippy, there was something about the film that starred Pierre Richard and Gérard Depardieu that struck a chord with the audience. Their interplay was great and so once again Veber paired the two in a new film where they play different characters, though they act pretty much like they did in the previous film. However, this time, the film, though amiable, lacked much of the magic of the original film. Now I am not saying that this is a bad film--but it just doesn't work nearly as well as "La Chèvre"."Les Compères" begins with a mother and father going to the police to get help in finding their runaway son. However, the police cannot guarantee quick action and the mother decides to use an evil scheme to elicit the help of two old lovers. She meets separately with Richard and Depardieu to tell them that the boy is actually their long-lost son that they didn't know even existed. This exceptionally cruel device works, however, and both set out to find their 'son'. However, they don't know that each is searching for a 17 year-old boy who can't be their son because he's only 15--and was fathered by the lady's husband.Like "La Chèvre", Richard is a bumbler and makes a mess of most everything. Depardieu is tough and a man of action. Together, true to formula, they help each other to grow. They also manage to find the boy AND uncover a mob conspiracy. While the way the teen reacts to them and the mob plot offer a few surprises, the overall film offers none. As I said, it's formulaic all the way and ends pretty much like you'd expect. While none of this is bad, it's also a tad bland and inoffensive--the sort of film that is more of a time-passer than anything else. Fortunately, Francis Veber went on to do many wonderful and more satisfying films. And if "Les Compères" is among the least of his work, then that is a pretty good endorsement for seeing more of his films (such as THE VALET, MY BEST FRIEND and THE CLOSET).By the way, this film's plot is very similar to the Gina Lollabrigida film BUONA SERA MRS. CAMPBELL--a film that is about as good and worth seeing as "Les Compères".

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.