Didier Kaminka Movies
- 1996
Misunderstandings create romantic mayhem in this French comedy. Joanna Martin is an investigative television reporter who has lived happily with prominent lawyer Samuel Bosquier for over 15 years. The trouble begins when her station assigns Joanna to investigate the phony marriage/immigration racket. Wanting to prove that such bogus unions are absurdly easy to obtain, she steals the identity of her sister (a spinster) and 'marries" Pavel, a recently emigrated Hungarian laborer. Unfortunately, she says nothing of her assignment to Samuel. He never would have found out had he not run across a letter she had written on behalf of a colleague to help her escape her abusive husband. Reading the letter, poor Samuel begins believing that his beloved Joanna has been untrue. He suffers a breakdown and begins getting in trouble with the law. At the same time, Joanna develops her own problems when a government official begins suspects the reporter's marriage to Pavel is a sham. The dogged official so badgers them, they the two stage an elaborate scenario to prove themselves bonafide spouses. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Boujenah, Miou-Miou, (more)
- 1994
After one of his superiors tries unsuccessfully to frame him, the formerly by-the-book honest cop Julien Segal (Patrick Bruel) turns to crime as the way to fight them back. Along the way he wins the partnership and love of the lovely Claire (Sandra Speichert), and cleverly makes life very uncomfortable indeed for his nefarious police supervisor Carre (Didier Bezace) and the supervisor's dope-dealing buddy Roche (Jean-Louis Tribes). It seems that Carre can't prosecute Julien for his crimes without coming under suspicion himself. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Bruel, Sandra Speichert, (more)
- 1991
François (Thierry Lhermitte) has convinced his wife and nearly everyone else that he is a pleasant, downtrodden civil servant who has been immured in a dead-end job. In reality, he is a very competent secret operative for the government. Meanwhile, Helene (Miou-Miou), the mother of his two children, has grown bored with her dull husband and is considering whether or not she should have an affair with an attractively sleazy used-car salesman who has been feeding her his standard seduction line: that he's a secret agent (which, in his case, is a lie). When François discovers this, he concocts a plan to teach his wife a lesson, which grows unexpectedly complicated when the two of them stumble across an international arms-smuggling cartel. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thierry Lhermitte, Miou-Miou, (more)
- 1990
A "ripoux" is, in French slang, a policeman who accepts bribes, shakes down "honest" criminals for a cut of their action, at a level which can range from the familiar (U.S.) paradigm of accepting free donuts, to serious criminal activity. This comic police thriller is a sequel to the hugely successful 1984 film Philippe Noiret and Thierry Lhermitte about a pair of Parisian policemen, one an old, experienced "ripoux" and the other one an idealistic new-kid-on-the-block type, who has to be shown the ropes (and mildly corrupted) by the older man. In this story, Noiret's young partner is having misgivings about his misdeeds, and in any case wants to try for a promotion to police commissioner. What with one thing and another, this leads to both men being ignominiously transferred to another beat, to the (temporary) jubilation of the people they've been sponging off of for years. It turns out that the new cops on their old beat are far less helpful and easygoing than they were, and soon the denizens of their Montmartre district beat are beating on the doors of city hall begging for their return. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Thierry Lhermitte, (more)
- 1988
In this light French comedy, Marie and Jerome (Marlene Jobert) and Patrick Chesnais) are a middle aged couple desperate to have a child. They have tried to deal with the official adoption agencies, but the bureaucracies are so hidebound that they'll likely reach their dotage before a child becomes available. Next they try to persuade a pregnant teen to give up her baby, but that doesn't work either. Marie and Jerome are left to resort to more desperate measures. Various well-known French funnymen have cameos, including Romain Bouteille and Christian Clavier. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marlène Jobert, Patrick Chesnais, (more)
- 1987
Christophe Malavoy and Francois Cluzet are business partners who are accused of stealing a safe from a wealthy tycoon in this situation comedy. A practical joke backfires when the two make their colleague (Jean -Claude Leguay) believe he has won the lottery. The owner of the safe calls the police, who chase after the scheming duo. The two steal the safe a second time to cover the loss of the money taken in the first burglary. Monique (Veronique Genest) is the sultry police commissioner and former flame of the robbery victim who investigates the bizarre case. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- François Cluzet, Christophe Malavoy, (more)
- 1987
Sam (Roland Giraud) enjoys his romantic rendezvous with his ex-wife Vanessa (Fanny Cortencon) and others in this routine sex farce. He lives with up-and-coming actress Elodie (Fiona Gelin), but quickly falls for pretty female physician Joanna (Marianne Basler). Sam soon is globe-trotting after the doctor who storms his dreams. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roland Giraud, Fanny Cottençon, (more)
- 1986
In another indictment of the flaws of our so-called civilization, this satire from the late director (Marco Ferreri) features (Christopher Lambert) as Michel, a miserable man who has failed at love and finds solace in a mechanical key holder. Michel has just been dumped by Barbara (Anemone) because he has not been able to get her pregnant. He is feeling pretty low when he finds a key holder with blue eyes and big red lips that responds to the sound of a whistle with "I Love You." Michel tacks this gadget up on his TV set and whistles away. He seems happy with this fool-proof declaration of love until one day, the key holder responds to the neighbor's whistle and Michel goes berserk. After all, if your key ring can't be faithful, what's the world coming to? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anémone, Eddy Mitchell, (more)
- 1986
Charles Aznavour and Ugo Tognazzi appear in this comedy about two Jewish merchants in need of cash. They team up with a Seminarian (Andre Dussolier) whose talents lie in opening safes and praying to God for assistance, and they plan one great robbery that will get everyone out of debt. Some viewers might take exception at a few digs against organized religion. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Aznavour, Ugo Tognazzi, (more)
- 1985
Gaetan (Michel Serrault) is a television comic whose jokes have kept his program alive, but in more recent times, his senior gag writers have not had their hand on the pulse of his changing audience. A series of circumstances bring two young cafe-theater comedy writers to the rescue (Thierry Lhermitte and Gerard Jugnot), partially due to Gaetan's efforts. The new material is so successful that Gaetan is offered the lead in a serious feature-length movie, and if he had any hesitation about the venture, his wife squelched it with visions of a higher social and economic standing for them both. But the project does not go exactly as planned, and before he knows it, Gaetan runs into trouble. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Serrault, Gérard Jugnot, (more)
- 1984
This run-of-the-mill police comedy drama focuses on two policemen, René (Philippe Noiret), a somewhat grubby plainclothes policeman who has lived on bribes and minor racketeering for the last 20 years, and his new partner François (Thierry Lhermitte), especially honest and certainly naive. René is too accustomed to the good life with his lover, a former prostitute, and too much addicted to the racetrack to give it all up because of a straight-arrow partner. And so he fixes François up with the gorgeous Natasha (Grace de Capitani), herself a high-class prostitute whose charms leave the young cop besotted and whose expensive tastes leave him broke. Driven by love above all other concerns, François not only joins René in his schemes, he eventually gets an idea for swiping enough money to retire them both for life. Both Noiret and Lhermitte give top-notch performances that help to compensate for the otherwise predictable script. Ripoux was awarded 1984 Cesars for "Best Film" and "Best Director." ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Thierry Lhermitte, (more)
- 1984
Much of the suspense is excised from this ordinary comic "whodunit" by revealing too much about the protagonists before their own characters betray themselves through their actions. Barbara (Jane Birkin) marries Julien (Sami Frey) a charming and sexy man. Barbara's old flame Paul (Gérard Jugnot) is highly suspicious of Julien. It seems Julien's previous two wives died under dubious circumstances and he collected a wad of insurance money as a result. Paul cannot ignore his misgivings, and so he follows Barbara and Julien to Morocco on their honeymoon, intent on preventing any harm to the woman he still loves. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Birkin, Gérard Jugnot, (more)
In this standard children's story, Simon (Emeric Chapuis) wants Saint Nick to please find his parents, who are missing somewhere in Africa, and so he and a friend sneak off during a class field trip to board a plane for Finland, where Santa lives. After Simon and his friend Elodie (Alexia Haudot) arrive in Finland, they find Santa, who takes them to his village and hears the whole story. Before a blink of the eye or tweak of the nose, Santa dashes off to Africa with his helper the good fairy to save Simon's parents from the clutches of a guerrilla group. Along the way some interesting characters make life difficult -- including an ogre (Dominique Hulin) near Santa's village who has a culinary preference for low-fat children. With a little enhancement of the below-par production values, this story might be all the more enchanting to an older and more discriminating set of little viewers. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emeric Chapuis, Karen Cheryl, (more)
- 1983
Lacking the bite to be really funny, this wilted farce stars French comedian Coluche as Michel Bernardin, a white-collar trouble-shooter for tourists caught in a bind, or in bandages, depending on the problem. His business "Planet Assistance" sends people all over to help travelers in need, and as his first assignment of the moment, Michel goes off to a North African nation to get a man out of the hospital and back to Paris. After he arrives, he escapes from the hospital and the country with the wrong man and accidentally sets off a coup d'etat. Next, in New York, he is attacked by men who think he is a drug lord when he is in Harlem trying to bring a hospitalized musician home to France. Lastly, he goes to Hong Kong where he comes across his fiancée but is also an unwitting puppet of some racketeers. By this time, the comedy has sunk so low it has dipped completely out of sight. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Coluche, Valérie Mairesse, (more)
- 1982
Having just seen a successful robbery, a man (Daniel Auteuil) and his roommate (Gerard Jugnot) are inspired to rob a bank themselves for some ready cash. When they burst in on the bank with their toy machine guns, most of the tellers and staff are frightened and wary, but in one case, a member of the bank staff has to show the robbers how to carry out their plan because they really do not know what they are doing. After getting to know the robbers better, the bank staff are struck by a serious conflict of interest -- should they remain loyal to the bank or not? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Auteuil, Anémone, (more)
- 1981
Based on a successful cabaret theater play, Come to my Place, I'm Living with my Girlfriend features Guy (Michel Blanc) as a carefree and morally challenged gas station attendant suddenly in need of a place to live. It seems his boss caught him trying to cheat his customers, and Guy was thrown out on his ear. He saves the day for himself by wheedling his way into the good graces of two friends, Daniel (Bernard Girardeau) and Francoise (Therese Liotard), a young couple who are easy-going and willing to share their apartment with him "for a few days." The "few days" turn into week after week, as Guy connives to stretch out his good fortune as far as he can. Acting as though his welcome will never wear out, he further strains the relationship with Francoise and Daniel by entertaining a series of girlfriends - for whom he has an undying passion. His antics begin to short-circuit the happy relationship that Daniel and Francoise have always enjoyed, and sooner or later, the problem of "Guy" will have to be resolved before fuses are blown for good. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernard Giraudeau, Michel Blanc, (more)
- 1980
A few bumps in modern education provide an underlying, tongue-in-cheek theme for this enjoyable comedy by Claude Zidi. The story centers around a graduating class of "less-gifted" students in a private Versailles high school. Only a miracle has brought the students this far along, and after a practical joke misfires and the whole school is dynamited, the students are in deep trouble. They have to present themselves in court for their punishment and it could not be worse. They either have to go to prison, or manage to pass their high-school graduation exams. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maria Pacome, Hubert Deschamps, (more)
- 1975
A group of free-spirited young performers attempt to enliven a rather grim housing development for working-class people, only to meet with resistance by the local government and the inhabitants themselves. It looks like they will be expelled from their homes there, until Michel (Michel Fugain) arrives following a world tour, and organizes a festival on the site. Despite the violence which erupts, it looks like a compromise will be reached. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Fugain, Nathalie Baye, (more)
- 1974
In this madcap comedy, a completely unavailable girl is the object of the fantasies of three guys who have been pals for years. They eventually follow her (literally) to heaven and hell, but satisfaction does not attend their efforts. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Didier Kaminka, Philippe Ogouz, (more)
Also known as Nada, The Nada Gang is a lesser effort from director Claude Chabrol. A group of European terrorists calling themselves the Nada kidnaps an American ambassador. Their hideout is besieged by a sadistic police official and his minions. Thanks to the official's eagerness to pull the trigger, everyone winds up dead, including the ambassador. The Nada Gang was based on a novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fabio Testi, Maurice Garrel, (more)
- 1973
In this French comedy, Pierre (Pierre Richard) is the peace-loving, good-natured son of an arms merchant. His bumbling attempts to help people result in humorous chaos. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bernard Blier, Daniele Minazzoli, (more)
