The Funniest French Comedies

Don't Die Too Hard (La Tour Montparnasse Infernale)
      2001 | France | Laughs: 2.0 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 5.7
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Two inept window cleaners on Paris's tallest office tower get in the way of a robbery. The first ten minutes were pretty funny (I love comedy involving heights). The rest was goofy but uninspired. (Last viewed: March 2018)

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Asterix and Obelix Mission Cleopatra (Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre)
      2002 | France | Laughs: 2.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.6
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This is a film adaptation of a volume in the famous series of comic books. It didn't make me laugh (the humor mostly relies on wordplay) but it was funny and entertaining. The movie has good rhythm and it's beautiful to look at—I was impressed with colors and texture. Adapting a comic book for the screen is a tall order. This is one of the rare successes. (Last viewed: August 2014)

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Now Where Did the Seventh Company Get to? (Mais Où Est Donc Passée La 7ème Compagnie)
      1973 | France | Laughs: 2.0 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 6.9
      wikipedia | who was involved?

How would you like to watch a movie about a platoon of French soldiers running from the German army during World War 2? If it were hilarious, I would not mind. For the most part, this is a light-hearted movie with lots of texture but not much comedy. Perhaps it just aged poorly. At first, I gave up after half an hour. After a positive experience with each of the sequels, I watched a bit more and finished the film on the third sitting (the second half was funnier). The first sequel isn't bad, and the third installment is even better. (Last viewed: August 2014)

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Cooking with Butter (La Cuisine Au Beurre)
      1963 | France | Laughs: 2.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.5
      who was involved?

A lazy Frenchman who stayed in Germany with a concubine after the war returns his town in the South of France where everyone thought him dead. He tells everyone that he was held captive in Siberia. His wife has remarried with a serious worker from northern France who has turned the man's former restaurant into a bustling business, and who invites him to stay awhile. This is a light-hearted movie that features the clash of cultures between the North and South of France, symbolized by the use of butter or olive oil in the respective regions' cuisines. It may have made people laugh in simpler times. Today there is little reason to watch it, except perhaps as a document. (Last viewed: August 2014)

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La Zizanie
      1978 | France | Laughs: 2.0 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 6.4
      wikipedia | who was involved?

To fill a large order, an industrialist converts his house into a factory, leading to domestic trouble. I don't like noise, and this movie is very loud. Even without the noise, it's just not funny, apart from a few chuckles. (Last viewed: September 2012)

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The Castaways of Turtle Island (Les Naufragés de l'Ile de la Tortue)
      1976 | France | Laughs: 2.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.4
      who was involved?

A travel agent pitches his boss on the idea of "survivor holidays" where tourists must fend for themselves on a desert island, Robinson-Crusoe-style. All too soon, he finds himself leading a first group of holiday makers in the Caribbean. This offbeat comedy is poor in laughs but rich in texture, pacing and characters, two of whom are played by actors noted for their significant contributions to French comedy: Pierre Richard (La Chèvre) and Jacques Villeret (The Dinner Game). A small treasure that aged beautifully and can be savored anytime. (Last viewed: April 2013)

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Nailcruncher (Mangeclous)
      1988 | France | Laughs: 2.0 (Watch Once) | imdb: 5.0
      wikipedia | who was involved?

As a young man, I read Albert Cohen's Solal series of novels, in which Nailcruncher belongs. Translating the rich, intimate texture of Cohen's novels for the screen is always going to be a challenge. The director made it that much harder when he picked five actors who are not Jewish, let alone Sephardic Jews, to play the group of friends from a small Jewish community in Greece. It's not that the actors were bad—Pierre Richard and Jacques Villeret may in fact be my two favorite French comic actors. It's that there is an enormous cultural gap between a Catholic from cold Normandy (say) and a Jew from sunny Macedonia. Asking one to play the other is similar to asking Kevin Costner to play an Afro-American mechanic from Mississippi. Jacques Villeret would have had a chance (thanks to his Algerian ancestry) but he was in the wrong role. Apart from this major casting fumble, the movie is not without charm, but that charm is necessarily of a kitsch nature. I did laugh once in a scene involving pistachios—and none of the main actors. (Last viewed: August 2013)

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Mouth-Watering (L'eau à la Bouche)
      1960 | France | Laughs: 1.5 (Don't Bother) | imdb: 6.3
      wikipedia | who was involved?

A young woman visits a relative's castle to claim an inheritance, accompanied to her lover who claims to also be part of the family. A love imbroglio ensues. Despite the title and the Serge Gainsbourg unaging eponymous song, the film feels very dated. (Last viewed: January 2016)

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Russian Dolls (Les Poupées Russes)
      2005 | France | Laughs: 1.5 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.0
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This light-hearted introspective romance is a sequel to The Spanish Apartment. It's a decent movie, though a bit more scattered than the original. Once again you're not here expecting to laugh, but there should be lots of smiling and maybe a few chuckles. If you've watched the first movie you'll know whether you want to watch this one—and the third installment Chinese Puzzle. (Last viewed: July 2014)

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Chinese Puzzle (Casse-Tête Chinois)
      2013 | France | Laughs: 1.5 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.0
      wikipedia | who was involved?

To me, this third installment in the series of light-hearted movies that began with The Spanish Apartment is necessary—much like the sequels in Michael Apted's Seven Up series—, and just as it is necessary, it is predictably less interesting. In the first film, the characters are all standing on the edge of the cliff, at the beginning of adult life, about to take flight. At forty, life tends to be more ponderous. That being said, if you're interested in the series, you'll still want to watch it, and you'll be entertained. It's not a laugh-out-loud comedy—but you already knew that. (Last viewed: August 2014)

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Coco
      2009 | France | Laughs: 1.4 (Just Awful) | imdb: 3.3
      wikipedia | who was involved?

This film is an example of what tends to happen when you allow an excellent stand-up comedian write and direct a feature film. I guess Gad Elmaleh needed direct experience to learn that writing a script for an array of characters requires different skills from writing a show for himself alone. I like Gad's work a lot, both as a stand-up and in films such as The Valet, but Coco deserves nothing more than its 3.1 IMDB rating—probably a record low, of all comedies whose IMDB pages I have seen. (Last viewed: May 2012)

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The Little Bather (Le Petit Baigneur)
      1968 | France | Laughs: 1.2 (Broken Comedies) | imdb: 6.7
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Shortly after firing one of his engineers and ripping up the contract for a boat the man had designed, a boat builder learns that he made a big mistake: the said boat just won a prize, and 200 pieces have been ordered. This is one of these sadistic movies where you spend more time worrying about a poor guy who is anxious to get what he wants than enjoying the weak scenes that try but fail to be comical. The movie is also heavy on two of de Funès's weakest stock characters—the angry man and the greedy man. Burn the reels. (Last viewed: September 2012)

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The Brand New Testament (Le Tout Nouveau Testament)
      2015 | France | Laughs: 1.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 7.1
      wikipedia | who was involved?

God's daughter rebels against her overbearing, obnoxious father, and goes out into the world (in Brussels) in search of six apostles. A sweet movie with no real laughs but funny moments. (Last viewed: June 2017)

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My Best Friend (Mon Meilleur Ami)
      2006 | France | Laughs: 1.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.7
      wikipedia | dmoz | who was involved?

A friendless man scrambles to find a "best friend" in order to win a bet. Apart from the presence of stand-up comedian Dany Boon, I'm not sure why this movie is classified as a comedy, as it is often sad and sometimes stressful, but neither hilarious nor even funny. That said, it is watchable, and I'm sure it has some insights about what constitues friendship—and what doesn't. (Last viewed: October 2012)

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Microbe & Gasoline (Microbe et Gasoil)
      2015 | France | Laughs: 1.0 (Light-Hearted) | imdb: 6.7
      wikipedia | who was involved?

Two privileged teenagers use the summer holiday to go on a road trip in a home-made campervan. This is not "slap your thighs" comedy, but it is light-hearted and I found it delightful. I've slowly come to realize that I'm a fan of Michael Gondry's, who has committed an incredible range of works across multiple continents. (Last viewed: October 2018)

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