Les Compères (1983) - film review

When her teenage son, Tristan, leaves home without saying a word, Christine Martin decides to resort to trickery to find him.  She asks her former boyfriend, Jean Lucas, now a ruthless journalist, to look for her missing son, letting it slip that he is in fact the boy’s father.  When Lucas pulls out of the venture, Christine tries out the same trick on another old flame, François Pignon, a school teacher who suffers from chronic depression.   Delighted to have fathered an offspring, Pignon throws himself into the mission, only to run up against Lucas, who has had a change of heart. The two men finally track down the missing boy, but each is convinced he is the father...

If the hackneyed plot of this lowbrow French comedy doesn’t put off its spectators, its awkward mix of comedy, sentimental drama and policier should.  In the hands of any other director, and with any other pair of leading actors, Les Compères would be a totally forgettable work.  (The film’s weaker points are brought home in its lousy American re-make, Father’s Day.) The fact that it still retains its popular appeal – and not just in France – whilst being considered by many as a comedy classic is an indication of the talent which the film has to offer.

Although Francis Veber’s scripting is not at its best, lacking the spontaneity and originality of his other films, there are plenty of examples of the sharp Veber wit to delight and entertain us.  However, the most significant contributions to the film come from its two stars, Gérard Depardieu and Pierre Richard, reunited for the first time since their hit success La Chèvre (1982).  Forget the absurd plot, the wooden supporting cast and the tiresome brawls.  What keeps the film moving and holds our attention is the wonderful rapport between Depardieu and Richard, two actors of great stature, blessed with perfect comic timing, physiques which perfectly match their contrasting personalities, and an unfaltering ability to engage a cinema audience and entertain them.  It is such a pity that this magnificent marriage of talent could only run to three films.  Depardieu and Richard would appear together once more on screen in Francis Veber’s subsequent film, Les Fugitifs (1986).

© James Travers 2004

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