L'Opération Corned-Beef (1991)
Directed by Jean-Marie Poiré

Film Review

In the course of his busy career, Jean-Marie Poiré directed many silly comedies, but few are sillier than this boisterous send up of the American action thriller. The jokes are mostly predictable, the plot is a shambolic mess and the characterisation is so lacking in substance that it is almost invisible to the naked eye. Fortunately, there's just about enough zip to hold the whole thing together and prevent a mass stampede towards the cinema exit.  L'Opération Corned-Beef is a somewhat less appealing prospect than Poiré's previous comedies Le Père Noël est une ordure (1982) and Papy fait de la résistance (1983), which have what this film badly lacks - a well-constructed narrative to support all the ludicrous comic escapades. On the plus side, the action stunts are extremely well choreographed (eat your heart out Belmondo), and give rise to some of the film's best sight gags.  The two lead actors Christian Clavier and Jean Reno make a highly effective chalk-and-cheese double act, of the kind that often featured in popular French comedies of this era. Realising that the Clavier-Reno pairing is the best thing about this film, Poiré would subsequently re-deploy it, along with Valérie Lemercier, in a later film - the 1993 comedy classic Les Visiteurs.

Film Synopsis

Philippe Boulier, code name “Le Squale” is an agent in the French secret service.   He is recalled from South America to help dismantle an arms trafficking network in France, “Operation Corned Beef”.    Things start out simply enough - Boulier merely has to spy on the key suspect, the Colombian Zargas, at a consulate in Paris.  Then Jean-Jacques enters the frame - a naïve company psychologist, whose mistress just happens to be Boulier's fiancé…