La Chèvre 1981

La Chèvre is a 1981 comedy written and directed by Francis Veber, and the first of three films pairing Pierre Richard and Gérard Depardieu. Its premise is brilliant and simple. Marie Bens, the daughter of a company boss, is kidnapped while on holiday in Mexico. She is famous in her family for her catastrophic bad luck. A detective, Campana, played by Depardieu, finds nothing in a month. So the company's psychologist suggests sending someone just as unlucky, on the theory that he will walk into the same misfortunes and so find her. The man chosen is François Perrin, an accountant played by Richard, for whom nothing has ever gone right. The French title means "the goat", in the sense of the bait tied up to trap a predator. It was a huge hit in France and abroad.

The test

The film's opening scenes set up the joke. Meyer, the psychologist, demonstrates his theory to Bens by inviting Perrin into a room full of chairs. Perrin, faced with all those empty seats, chooses the only broken one and falls to the floor. The boss is convinced. Perrin is told he is being sent to Mexico to help with the investigation, without being told why he has really been chosen.

Campana, a tough, sensible professional, is ordered to work with him. He quickly realises that his partner is a walking disaster: Perrin sinks into quicksand, gets caught up in brawls he had nothing to do with, and cannot sit, walk or eat without an accident. Worse, Campana starts to notice that following Perrin's misfortunes really does lead them towards Marie.

A double act

Veber builds the film on the contrast between the two men. Depardieu, huge and solid, plays the straight man, increasingly exasperated, and then oddly protective. Richard, thin, blond and distracted, plays Perrin as completely serious, convinced he is a competent investigator, which makes every accident funnier.

The pair worked so well that Veber reunited them in Les Compères (1983) and Les Fugitifs (1986), both also huge successes.

Francis Veber's comedy

Veber was one of the most skilful writers of French popular comedy, known for precise construction and for his recurring character François Perrin (later François Pignon), the hapless ordinary man. He had written for Yves Robert and Édouard Molinaro, including La Cage aux folles, before directing his own films. Later came Le Dîner de cons (1998).

La Chèvre was shot partly in Mexico, with the Mexican cinematographer Alex Phillips Jr., which gives it a sunny look rare in French comedies of the time. Vladimir Cosma's score adds to the light, adventurous tone.

Remake

Hollywood remade it in 1991 as Pure Luck, with Martin Short and Danny Glover. As often with American remakes of French comedies, the original is funnier.

Why watch it

It is a perfect introduction to French popular comedy of the 1980s: well constructed, physical, never cruel. It plays well with family audiences and needs no knowledge of French culture.

For more, see the best French comedies and the best French films of the 1980s. Another comedy from the same years is the Molière adaptation L'Avare, with Louis de Funès.