LES COMPÈRES Movie Review

In yet another Francis Veber sitcom starring Pierre Richard and Gérard Depardieu, a woman (Anny Duperey) suckers two former lovers into finding her wayward son (Stephane Bierry) by secretly telling each that he is the kid's father. That's all there is to the high-concept setup, so it's up to Richard (as a grotesquely hypochondriacal nervous wreck) and Depardieu (a tough-talking reporter) to make the picture watchable through comic chemistry. They succeed fitfully, but eventually you're run over by this thing and find that it's easier to lie down and surrender to it than to resist. Actually, this is one of the easiest to take (and, not coincidentally, the shortest) of Veber's ubiquitous buddy movies.

NEXT STOP … Le Chèvre, The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe, Pain in the A**

1983 92m/C FR Pierre Richard, Gerard Depardieu, Army Duperey, Michel Aumont; D: Francis Veber; W: Francis Veber; M: Vladimir Cosma. VHS, LV FCT