Pierre Richard Movies

A star is born in a time of both celebration and instability in this historical drama with music from director Christophe Barratier. In the spring of 1936, Paris is in a state of uncertainty; while the rise of the Third Reich in Germany worries many, a leftist union-oriented candidate, Léon Blum, has been voted into power, and organized labor is feeling its new power by standing up to management. While such matters might normally seem unimportant to Germain Pigoil (Gérard Jugnot), who runs a small vaudeville house in the Faubourg district, the chaos of the city seems to be impacting his life and his work -- his wife, Viviane (Elisabeth Vitali), has run off with her lover, she demands custody of their son, Jojo (Maxence Perrin), and unscrupulous local entrepreneur Galapiat (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu) threatens to put Germain's theater out of business. With the help of a local political organizer, Milou (Clovis Cornillac), and veteran entertainer Jacky Jacquet (Kad Merad), Germain strikes a deal with Galapiat to reopen the theater, but business is slow until a lovely young woman with a remarkable voice, Douce (Nora Arnezeder), comes looking for a spot in Germain's show. Faubourg 36 (aka Paris 36) received its North American premiere at the 2008 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

French director Pierre-François 'Pel' Martin-Laval's romantic comedy Try Me opens with the gentlest of promises: at 9 years old, Yves-Marie proposed to his childhood sweetheart, Jacqueline. She accepted, on the sole condition that he become an astronaut and chart the heavens. He kept his vow; she forgot hers. When Yves-Marie (Laval) waltzes back into Jacqueline's (Julie Depardieu) life as an adult , then, with the news of his astronaut career, and expects to sweep her off her feet, he is horrified to discover her pending engagement to another man, Vincent (Kad Merad). Not one to be daunted, Yves-Marie then convinces Jacqueline to "try him out" for a day, prior to following through on her marital commitment. Surprisingly, Vincent agrees - for it will give him a chance to slip off on a hunting trip and enjoy one more day as a "meat-eater" before marrying vegetarian Jacqueline. Unfortunately, Yves-Marie's nutty father (Pierre Richard) isn't far behind his son and Jacqueline, and in doing his best to help, makes the pivotal day infinitely more complicated for the former sweethearts. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

During his adolescent years, Sami, a French teen, saved 15-year-old buddy Patrick from a potentially fatal skiing accident - causing Patrick to feel long indebted to his friend. Years later, Patrick (Clovis Cornillac) has evolved into a congenial husband, father and businessman with a handsome Parisian flat and a gorgeous wife named Justine (Alice Taglioni), but the poor Sami (Pascal Elbe) failed to make an equally smooth transition into adulthood. He developed a severe case of hypochondria - so severe that he's now a basket case and spends inordinate amounts of time in the hospital undergoing every medical test in the books, and presumably torturing his insurance company in the process. So begins Gerard Bitton and Michael Munz's outrageous comedy-of-errors The Cactus. When Sami endures a brain scan and overhears a conversation between a doctor and a nurse, indicating that the patient "is suffering from a severe case of white spots" and "won't last the winter" - his paranoia leads him to conclude that they are discussing the results of his procedure; unbeknownst to him, the discussion pertains to the office cactus. Terrified of impending death, Sami leans more heavily than ever on Patrick and Justine (for whom he carries a serious torch) - first moving into their house, and then carting the Patrick along with him on a trip to India to consult with a famous healer. Alas, the two men's problems are only beginning, and when Patrick's decides to skip work in order to help his friend, it marks the beginning of a journey full of outrageous errors and mishaps that collectively turn each man's life upside down and inside out. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Pierre Richard directed, co-scripted and stars in this French comedy. Former top film comedian Romain (Richard) is on a downward spiral -- rehearsing a play directed by his sister while also dealing with his wife, mistress, taxes, low self-esteem, demands for attention from his two children, and a private detective attempting to snap incriminating photos. Producer Jean-Louis Levi appears in a cameo as a poverty-stricken bum. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

This French tale, set in the 17th century, chronicles the marriage between an errant knight and a beautiful spinster. The tale begins in 1629, and the knight is Nathan Le Cerf who joins the regiments of Count Anchire after he loses his entire family to the plague. Nathan's first assignment is to kill the gambling rival of the count in a duel; Nathan obeys, but gets wounded in the process. Still he makes it back to his master and is expecting a generous reward. Instead, the count reviles the knight, invokes Louis XIII's ban on dueling, and orders Nathan beheaded. Nathan will have none of that. Despite his bleeding abdominal wound, he escapes into the countryside. Initially he finds shelter with his lifelong friend, a chalk maker; he then goes on to one of his patrons, an artist. Nathan is relegated to living in a humble hut in the wilds. Eventually he meets an impoverished noblewoman, Marhte de Lairac. She is a rare vision of beauty with her flowing red hair and wide eyes. She and Nathan decide to wed and she begins living with him in the simple cottage. At first the two are quite formal with each other, but soon a real sexual chemistry develops between them. Marthe seems to be terribly excited by Nathan's desire for vengeance against the treacherous count and she eagerly helps him train. The count eventually shows up and Nathan gets revenge. Unfortunately his actions create a disturbing change in his relationship with Marthe. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This comedy brings Pierre Richard and Michel Piccoli together onscreen once again. In the story, former professor Henri Toussaint Piccoli has been locked away in a psychiatric ward for some years for trying to strangle his wife when he found her in bed with another man. Now she has a terminal illness, and wants some sort of reconciliation with him. His therapist (Richard) decides to permit him to visit with her, provided he comes along. Except for his wide mood swings and occasional outbursts of lewd muttering, the professor "passes" for sane fairly easily. Not so the psychotic (Dominique Pinon) who stows away in the psychiatrist's car, who constantly calls attention to the other two. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Martin (Martin Lamotte) is probably a little cracked in the head. Why else would he pick up a suspicious-looking hitchhiker (Pierre Richard) when he's been hearing about a dangerous escaped convict on the radio? It's not until the man is already in his car that he realizes that he could have a dangerous person on board. What's more, he can't seem to shake his now unwelcome hitchhiker. Eventually, he leaves his car behind altogether and becomes a hitchhiker himself. For a while this seems to work, and he even gets to have a brief affair with a woman who picks him up, but like a bad penny, his car and the hitchhiker catch up with him again... ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Yann (Pierre Richard) has his artistic eye on Florence (Fanny Cottencon), who desires her for more than her aesthetic beauty. His efforts are continually hampered by his neighbors Boris (Richard Bohringer), an insanely jealous layabout and his beautiful wife Eva (Emmanuelle Beart). Michel Creton and Eric Blanc play the confused cops called on to settle the situation. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi