Search - La Chevre on DVD

A riotous French comedy

LGwriter | Astoria, N.Y. United States | 05/25/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Give Francis Veber a whole lot of credit. He's able to exploit the comic talents, latent or otherwise, of Gerard Depardieu as the straight man to Pierre Richard's fall guy (literally--Richard's character takes more pratfalls than one of our late presidents--the impeached kind--in a room full of old banana peels). As the Jonah to end all Jonahs, Richard teams up with Depardieu to find the daughter of French tycoon, kidnapped in Mexico. And she herself is subject to all kinds of misfortunes.Knowing this, the tycoon's head company psychologist theorizes that it takes a Jonah to find one, so suggests to his boss that Richard go to Mexico--accompanied by Depardieu's private investigator--to find the girl. Hilarity ensues. There are so many funny bits in here that it's hard to fault this comedy for any reason. Those of you not fond of the Marx Brothers and other zingy slapstick, steer clear. Those others who find wacko comedy refreshing and downright fun (like I do), dig in. This is right up your alley.Richard is perfect and Depardieu is equally great as his sometime patsy. Or should I say pratsy? Zingy, dingy, and the perfect antidote to the recession blues."

It's Good for A Good Laugh!

Josey | Brooklyn, NY | 11/08/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This movie is about the daughter of a CEO who was born under an unlucky star. Everything that can possibly or impossibly happen happens to her. This time she manages to disappear to the distress of her father who tries to get her back. Gerard Depardieu plays the man hired to find her. But the only way to find such an unlucky girl is get someone just as unlucky to retrace her steps. That's where Pierre Richard comes in! Pierre Richard plays an employee of the CEO's who is not only an impossibly unfortunate person but he is also very oblivious about it. With Pierre Richard hired to lead Gerard Depardieu in the right direction, it is Gerard Depardieu that feels himself unlucky. That is unlucky to be paired with such a partner. Gerard Depardieu and Pierre Richard are the French version of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. All in all, a funny movie with some very memorable moments."

Good Silly Fun

Josey | 11/05/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a little girl I remember watching this film with my father (or should I say, watching him lose it over the silly antics of Gerard Depardieu and Pierre Richard). The movie itself has a fun and energetic plot, lots of silly twists and fine acting. I can't say I have watched enough French films to be an expert, but as comedies go, this one is a true gem. To those of you who are a little iffy about investing 26 dollars or so on this DVD, the hilarity involved is similar to Tom Hanks 1985 American remake "Man with one Red Shoe" of Pierre Richard's 1973 "Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe" comedy. Same kind of sillyness and rambunctious coincidences, etc. It's worth it! :-)"

Idiot's delight

Trevor Willsmer | London, England | 09/10/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Remade less successfully as Pure Luck, the first of Pierre Richard and Gerard Depardieu's three teamings for writer-director Francis Veber, La Chevre is still the best of the bunch. Richard's the idiot accountant assigned to find a missing girl in South America simply because he's every bit as accident-prone as she is, while Depardieu's the worldly private eye who has to pretend to be working for him while really running the case and trying to keep him out of trouble. You can pretty much fill in the gaps from there, but that doesn't make it any less funny. Richard's pratfalls work not just because they're unsensationally directed rather than heavily telegraphed (one even takes place out of focus in the background) but because, like Clouseau, Richard's character doesn't know he's a clumsy idiot. In fact, he thinks he's the epitome of cool and control. But it's Depardieu who really makes the film, his underplayed exasperation and beautiful reaction shots easily the funniest thing in the film, especially as he realises with increasing fatalism that Richard's bad luck is starting to rub off.

Kino's DVD transfer suffers from being a standards conversion from PAL, which is acceptable but has some blurring not present on the Australian DVD (where the film is also available on a triple-disc set with Les Comperes and Les Fugitifs)."