Je suis timide... mais je me soigne (1978)
Directed by Pierre Richard

Film Review

With Je suis timide mais je me soigne, Pierre Richard had his first significant commercial hit as a film director, after helming three moderately entertaining comedies, beginning with Le Distrait (1970).  Richard's fourth and arguably best directorial offering resembles an early Woody Allen comedy, in which the frizzy haired comic genius passes himself off as a likeable goon who is totally out of his depth in matters concerning the opposite sex.

Richard's unfaltering penchant for creating amiable disasters-on-legs is what made him one of the most popular French comedians of his day, drawing massive audiences in films such as Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire (1972) and La Moutarde me monte au nez (1974).  Je suis timide mais je me soigne was no mean success - it attracted an impressive audience of 2.5 million, but that doesn't mean it is a classic.

Engaging though the film is, it  is somewhat let down by an inadequate premise and a rambling script that is short on laugh-out-loud gags.  On the plus side, Richard forms a reasonably effective double act with his co-star Aldo Maccione, which the duo would repeat on Richard's next directorial excursion, Je sais rien, mais je dirai tout (1973).  The film's most memorable scene is the one in which its star sets out to buy some underpants, doing so as if he were prosecuting a military campaign.

Film Synopsis

Ever since he was a boy, Pierre Renaud has been afflicted with a chronic shyness that prevents him from establishing any kind of relationship with a member of the opposite sex.  Now, a humble cashier at a luxury hotel in Vichy, he still hasn't overcome his terrible affliction, in spite of the numerous therapies he has subjected himself to over the years.  Even when someone as ravishingly beautiful as Agnès Jensen walks through the hotel doors Pierre is unable to strike up a conversation and let her know what he feels for her.  When the young woman departs for her next venue on the French Riviera, Pierre feels impelled to follow her.  He finds work as a diver at the hotel in Nice she is now staying at, and then runs into his old therapist - a salesman named Aldo Ferrari - whose advice so far has had less than positive results.  Not one to give up on a patient, Aldo sells his car and passes himself off as a playboy so that he can get close to Agnès and try to nudge her in Pierre's direction.  It is a ruse that cannot possibly fail...