Jo e il gazebo

this is one of my all-time favourites. my love of louis de funés dates back to my childhood - i grew up with him bickering out of the tv set. of all his films, "jo" remains my favourite along with "l'aile et la cuisse". both are equally excellent in terms of situation comedy, dialogue and plot. they're even good in the german overdub, for heaven's sake!

the story of "jo" revolves around a playwright (of whodunnits) who has to hide a corpse from his wife and everyone else. in trying to keep his secret, he undergoes the funniest mishaps. go for "jo"!

p.s.: excellent supporting cast, too!

This may be Louis de Funes best movie.

A wonderful story, full of silly embroilments and funny dialogues. And a wonderful de Funes at his best, full of emotions and with his very own mimic and gesticulation.

For all of you out there who have not given this wonderful French actor a chance: Get this movie and roll on the floor laughing. See how a more than harmless man kills a stranger and tries to find out who the hell he has killed and how to get rid of this recalcitrant corpse which keeps on turning up in the most unfavorable of moments... and see how just that same day this poor man's house is turned into a beehive full of strange characters.

Highly recommended!

This is one of the best films Louis de Funes has done. His type of acting is not everyones taste but if you like Jerry Lewis' movies or Peter Sellers in his Pink Panther Series - this is a *must* for you! Hilarious situations, strange but funny characters, slapstick and of course de Funes as the choleric man who has to struggle with endless problems makes an outstandig comedy. And then it's fun to watch all those 70ies costumes and decoration as well ;-)

This screwball comedy of the early seventies has everything you might expect of a Louis de Funès movie: over-the-top acting (no wonder Louis had cardiac problems later on...). It can be described in one sentence by Inspecteur Ducros (Bernard Blier): "Is this a train station?". In fact, people are coming from all places, run through the house, frantically doing something like putting up a garden gazebo, demonstrating a (non-working) fire-extinguisher, doing police investigations, having a matrimonial crisis, laughing like a mad dog (the maid), doing the real-estate business and so on.

Inludes appearances by Ferdie Mayne (Mister Grunder), the notorious Count von Krolock in Roman Polanski's 1967 Dracula spoof "The Fearless Vampire Killers".

"Jo" is definitely a movie for de Funès fans as much as for those who just love to watch a fast-paced thriller-comedy. It is a shame that this gem is not yet available on DVD or VHS tape, not even in France. Since MGM seems to hold the rights one might ask why so.

This movie is adapted from a play and is the kind of high paced funny movies where one joke follows the next one. The text is excellent which is rare in comedies which tend to be vulgar. None there. The cast, as far as I am concerned Louis de Funes is in great shape but he is surrounded by even better comedians like Bernard Blier which I really enjoy so much in almost all his movies. The soundtrack reaches levels that would have made it good enough for a James Bond movie.

This movie is full of intelligence and highlights the quality of those great comedies, made in France, that were so common in those days.

I really laughed when I saw it in one Montreal's theatre when it came out and I still laughed as much recently watching it again.

Now, lets hope that this movie gets a DVD release soon.