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When Jacques goes off on a trip he asks his two flatmates,
Michel and Pierre, to look after a package for him. In the
middle of a party and full of red wine the two readily agree.
When they find a baby deposited on their doorstep by one of
Jacques girlfriends the hapless two presume that this is the
package that they are waiting for, which leads to a number
of problems with local drug dealers who where expecting to
pick up something else entirely. The boys soon discover that
their care free libertine lifestyles have never involved either
responsibility or babies. As they struggle to look after Marie,
the bachelor's hearts melt and they fall in love with her.
When the mother returns for the baby, the trio discover that
they cannot go back to their bachelor ways...
Trois
Hommes et un Couffin (1985) was directed by Coline Serreau
who also provided the screenplay for the American adaptation
Three Men and a Baby (1987) which starred Tom Selleck,
Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson. The film won the Cesar Awards
for best film, best writing and Michel Boujenah won for best
supporting actor. It won a French Academy Award for the director
and was nominated as best foreign film in the 1986 Oscars.
The film was nominated for a further four awards.
Let's cut straight to the chase, most people at some point
have seen Three Men and a Baby and if you thought that
was good you're going to love this original version, which
is superior in almost every sense. Where the American version
went for schmaltz to explain the boys transformation, Trois
Hommes uses the more realistic view that in order to keep
Marie safe from both the drug dealers and the local police,
their protective side comes to the fore. This opens up a chink
in their emotional armour - after all these are three men
who have a pact that no female will stay at their flat - and
in the act of protecting the baby they open themselves to
paternal feelings that even they didn't know they had.
The lead actors deliver Serreau's flawless script with great
aplomb. Roland Giraud plays Pierre, the source of all his
flatmates problems. The show, though, is really stolen by
Michel Boujenah (Michel) and Andre Dussollier (Jacques) who
are so hilarious as the hapless recipients of both the drugs
and the baby that I'm surprised that they didn't go on to
do a double act.
The
movie is presented in anamorphic 16:9 and comes with little
in the way of extras, having only the original theatrical
trailer, though the PR blurb does promise an interview with
Coline Serreau and behind the scenes featurettes with the
cast. You have the option to watch the film with or without
English subtitles, though even with my level of French you
could tell that some of the more subtle nuances were missing
in translation. The film print is nice and clean though a
little grainy and it comes with a disappointing stereo soundtrack,
though once again the PR blurb promised 5.1 and DTS. To be
fair to the film, the review copy was obviously not anyway
near the finished product and the problem with the grain on
the film may be resolved in the final pressing.
In the end the film is a well acted comedy with an excellent
cast and like I said, to my mind, far superior to its American
remake. The relatively low score for such an excellent film
reflects the lack of extras; though check on the back of the
DVD to see if the promised extras turn up.
Charles
Packer
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