This is a remake of Jean Renoir's Boudu Saved From Drowning (1932), which Paul Mazursky remade in Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986).I'm not sure why it had to be done again (a universal dearth of ideas possibly), but it's not a bad piece of fluff, an enjoyable waste of time. Its only real problem is its length: it just runs out steam. Jugnot and Depardieu are fun to watch for a while, but you just know their mutual fulminations and frustrations are going to wane; sure enough, it happens, at about the 75-minute mark. After that, it just goes downhill, and there just isn't any fun anymore.Depardieu offers us yet another self-mocking caricature of Gerard Depardieu. I like him a lot -- it's somehow endearing to see this universally known actor fearlessly showing his bulbous belly and nude derriere to a worldwide audience. It's somehow very European, or maybe just French. I've always loved Catherine Frot, and her ditzy performance adds a lot to the silliness.Good comedies are hard to find. One reason is that they can rarely sustain the comedy and the 'plot' convincingly over a feature length. This is the fate of this latest incarnation of Boudu.

I think the movie's great.it's not a masterpiece though, but it's quite entertaining.sometimes European comedies are way better than the American ones, the last often being shallow and childish.In my opinion Gerard Depardieu is one of the best character actors.Which are your top 5 french comedies?Do you think Hollywood could ever measure up to the European cinema?OK,i suppose i'm not the only person who have watched the movie.Post your comments.I would really love to see what you think of it.Take care .Bye. P.S One more thing- I think the title sounds stupid:)i really liked the movie though. Gerard 's face is so funny, yet so sad and capable of showing variety of emotions.

For the first time of my life I went to a sneak preview and I was full of great expectations, but unfortunately everything I got was Jugnot's "Boudu".The plot is fast told, Jugnot plays a bourgeois and narrow-minded art dealer, who saves a homeless (crankily played by Depardieu) from drowning and generously lets him spend one night at his home. In return Depardieu turns Jugnot's whole life totally upside down. At first everybody in the small french town is disgusted by Boudu's habits, but the better the people get to know him, the more Boudu changes everyone's life in a positive way."Boudu" is above all or even solely appropriate for confirmed Depardieu- or French-Comedy-Fans.Depardieu perfectly fits the role of "Boudu", playing Boudu's rude and plump character gave him visible pleasure.But the comparatively trivial plot and the inevitable vulgar jokes (f.ex. Depardieu's white and hairy butt, curse or beat-jokes) tire the spectator already after a short period. The bettering of the the people's lives due to Boudu's presence as well as the questionable socio-critical ending are very unrealistic. Why Jugnot's wife and his cute assistant are attracted to a disgusting homeless like Boudu and even sleep with him is as shady as the fact that Jugnot even forgives him and says he loves him, after he finds out, that Boudu has impregnated his wife.The film lacks above all originality,(for it is a remake of the 1932 Renoir-Classic "Boudu saved from downing").It is definitely an film, nobody needs, except those, who cannot get enough of Gerard Depardieu.

This has had a certain amount of bad-mouthing in France and after more than two weeks on release no one has yet seen fit to post a comment. Okay, the original, dating from 1932, is considered a classic and rightly so; Michel Simon and Jean Renoir ARE a tough act to follow but Gerard Depardieu and Gerard Jugnot are not exactly chopped liver if anybody asks you and in my opinion they've taken an honorable stab at remaking a classic and equally honorably chosen to move the locale from Paris to Aix-en-Provence and switch the original Bookstore to an Antique shop. Neither Depardieu nor Jugnot is in need of acting lessons or, in the case of Jugnot, directing lessons so it's no surprise that they have turned out a fine light comedy and it does no harm at all that Catherine Frot is on hand as Jugnot's wife who winds up in the sack with Depardieu. This isn't the first time I've had occasion to discuss Frot's amazing range and with luck it won't be the last. Here she is nothing less than delightful pulling out all the comedy stops in her considerable repertoire. Relative newcomer Constance Dolle, an Audrey Tautau look-alike is also on hand to brighten up the proceedings and a good time is had by all. Well worth 7-8 stars.