L'emmerdeur

I liked this film, not really belly laugh funny, but the situation comedy that Lino Ventura and Jacques Brel get themselves into, can be very humorous. Ventura plays an assassin who is trying to do a job, however he gets caught up with Brel's annoying and suicidal hypochondriac, foiling his attempts, by trying to commit suicide in the room next door to the room Ventura is in to do the hit. This causes the police to be called to the hotel. When they arrive however, Ventura persuades them that Brel is a friend and he will look after him and get him back on his feet. He decides to get rid of Brel, so that he can continue on his original task, but then ends up helping him to settle the score with his wife, who has left Brel for a rich medical doctor and that is when the real fun starts...!

This is one of the last good comedies Molinaro was able to make, before he got stuck in Cage aux folles-robotic entertainment. Pairing Lino Ventura and Jacques Brel was a wonderful idea: one is so dour and methodical, the other so emotional, helpless, a real loser.

The hotel scenes are very well set up; there is a claustrophobic feeling about the layout of the suites. The water seeping through the door into Ventura's suite from Brel's bathroom after the suicide attempt prevents Ventura from concentrating on assembling his rifle--very well handled by Molinaro. The clinic scene, with Ventura ending up in a strait-jacket is a marvelous four-way comic piece with Caroline Cellier and Jean-Pierre Darras joining the two principals.

Now, if someone will bring back La Mandarine (with an impressive Annie Girardot) and L'Homme pressé, two more great Molinaro pictures from the 70's, my happiness will be complete.

This film essentially is a study of characters between a loser (Jacques Brel) and a hit man (Lino Ventura).

This film, like many French comedies, has a Hollywood counterpart, "Buddy Buddy", with Walther Mathau and Jack Lemmon. Although not bad, the remake is nevertheless deceptive, as we were expecting much more from a movie in which the two principal characters are played by such great actors.

Watching movies 'backwards' is an interesting experience. There are so many good titles out there that were shot before I was born or I was grown up enough to have a chance to see them. Buddy, Buddy is one of them. However, looking at the critiques, I discovered that this is again a remake of a great French movie, L'Emmerdeur. Last time I have seen Ture Lies first, than I watched La Totale!, which was quite a disappointment, as the US version was just way much better, more money, better actors, etc. So now, I have decided to watch L'Emmerdeur first and just then Buddy, Buddy.

Although the movie was not fast as a paced action movie, the 80 minutes went by quite fast. I liked the atmosphere of the film, which is typical for French movies of this time: simple setup, small budget, great ideas and great actors. I just loved the funny situations and little jokes throughout.

The other attraction of the movie is the great Belgian singer, Jacques Brel (1929-1978). Although not French, he's a characteristic of French pop music of the 20th. Although he played in a number of movies, he's really not talented for an actor, the only other movie of his that worth a watch is 'L'aventure, c'est l'aventure'. However, as a composer/singer, he was fantastic, just browse to jacquesbrel.be to discover.

In case you're a fan of French movies as I am, this is a must to watch. However, as time has passed, L'Emmerdeur brings enough entertainment only for a Saturday/Sunday afternoon for the big audience, strongly recommended for family watch - 7/10.

This is one of those films that is so funny, it makes you (well me anyway) smile just to remember it.

The essential storyline is of a professional hitman and a guy that he finds he can not get rid of. (The English translation of the title is pain-in-the-behind.)

This is black comedy done to perfection with a brilliant gradual build-up. It starts straight-faced so, if you do not know what you are watching, it could be any old thriller. Gradually the gags come in until it reaches a manic pace.

The two stars are the completely deadpan Lino Ventura and the songwriter Jacques Brel.

It is sadly under-rated and hard-to-find. Seek it out!