Le Pari is a French film comedy first released in 1997, directed by Didier Bourdon and Bernard Campan.  The film stars Didier Bourdon, Bernard Campan, Isabelle Ferron, Isabel Otero and Hélène Surgère.  It has also been released under the title: The Bet.  Our overall rating for this film is: mediocre.


Didier and Bernard are two men who appear to have nothing in common, other than the fact they are married to women who are sisters.  Didier is a successful pharmacist with middle class pretensions; Bernard is a down-at-heel teacher in a rough high school.  The one thing that does unite them is their love for tobacco.  Their stepfather has the same failing, and it is ruining his health.  To encourage the latter to give up his fatal addiction, Didier and Bernard agree to a bet – to give up cigarettes for a fortnight.  At first, both men are amazed by how easy it is to stop smoking.  However, within a few days, both Didier and Bernard are near breaking point, and so are their marriages...

Encouraged by the success of their first film, Les Trois frères (1995), Didier Bourdon and Bernard Campan tried their luck once more, this time without the third member of their team (Les Inconnus), Pascal Légitimus.  Le Pari is the result, a quirky but not wholly satisfactory comedy in which Bourdon and Campan are clearly having more fun than the spectator.  The problem with the film is that it quickly departs from its central premise and becomes a rather haphazard comedy, lacking any clear narrative sense.  Admittedly, some of the comic situations work well, but the confused plot and drawn out ending are flaws which are hard to overlook.


© James Travers 2006

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