La moutarde me monte au nez

Master of French comedies Claude Zidi is a well known director of lovely movies and this is one of the first that stars French comedian Pierre Richard who looked more than a white poodle but you can forgive him the sign of the times.

The movie starts with great shots from Jane Birkin (the wife from Serge Gainsbourg) who is a big superstar. Everybody wants to take photos from her (also a friend of Pierre Richard) and one moment Pierre sees a photo from her... But he not alone, also his pupils as he is a teacher in maths...and son of a politician who is fighting against sexy posters in his towns. Of course you can guess the rest, Pierre lands by Birkin and the whole press jumps on it while the career of his dad looks to be destroyed. Why do I all tell this? The story isn't important at all, this is just fine entertainment in where you can have a good laugh for 90 minutes and you can even see Jane Birkin.

The cast is terrific in this unpretentious little comedy.Pierre Richard is certainly very funny in his part of a scatterbrained maths teacher.But his two co-stars almost steal the show from him.An excellent Claude Piéplu -and his inimitable high-pitched voice- plays his father ,a very very serious father,in direct contrast to the gentle self-conscious guy.He has big ambitions as a local politician. Jane Birkin is equally good and she proves that a good -looking girl is not necessarily a bimbo:my favorite scene is the one when Birkin asks Richard to prove he is really a maths teacher.She puts him to the test and he has to recite ....the identities!

Not a great comedy but a pleasant one.