A dedicated private eye searches for a businessman's daughter in Mexico, but the case is complicated by the amateur sleuthing of the client's accountant.First of all, it is worth noting that the movie is sadly infamous in Italy for a burning of a cinema in Turin in which it was projected, killing 63 people. So our hearts go out to them, even all these years later.The comedy is good, the detective angle is just alright. Although I have not seen the remake, my understanding is that Martin Short plays the comedic role. And that is simply perfect casting, because the actor here is very much a Martin Short-esque comedian. Or perhaps Short is influenced by this film?

With actors like Depardieu and Richard it is really a hard task to make a dull movie. But Weber is a master in setting a slow pace and making supposedly funny scenes without any wits and depth. This movie is high on story but low on character. You never get to know any of the characters except for superficial slapstick. Unfortunately Weber has no idea what slapstick is all about. His style could be described at hit and miss. Of course some people laugh when they see someone slip on a banana peel. Weber directs his humor at this lot. It is a shame how bad he uses good talent. Many good french comedians have been wasted away by mediocre directors.

Although the video box described the pairing in this movie as reminiscent of Laurel and Hardy, I think this is greatly overstating things. However, it is still a very good movie and worth your time.The story concerns the abduction of a VERY unlucky girl and the investigation into her disappearance. Gérard Depardieu is a competent kick-butt detective that is unable to find her after searching 42 days. Then a psychologist suggests to her rich father that they are going about searching in the wrong way--to find such an unlucky girl they should use a man equally as unlucky as they are bound to be drawn to each other! Silly as it may seem, this strategy seems to have something going for it, but Depardieu feels quite miffed that this boob, Pierre Richard, keeps blindly stumbling into important clues.While this is not the funniest movie, it certainly does offer quite a few laughs. When I find myself laughing out loud, I know it must be a pretty good comedy!FYI--I probably SHOULD take off another point from the score, as the movie had two stupid moments: in the jungle in Mexico, our heroes encounter a gorilla AND a cobra--this isn't even the right continent for either!!

If you want to see what comedy should be, instead of the gross-out humor passed off as comedy in movies like Austin Powers, see this film. This forgotten gem stars a very young Gérard Depardieu as adetective hired to find the missing daughter of a business. It is shot in the French tradition of visual comedy, and is very, very funny.POSSIBLE SPOILERS:Gérard's character, a no-nonsense detective who does not believe in superstitions or "luck", has been teamed with a hapless man whose life seems to disprove the notion that bad luck does not exist. The missing girl also has had a life of extraordinary mishaps, and her father believes that this poor schmuck will be like a guide dog leading Depardieu straight to her. Depardieu's mission becomes more and more simply trying to keep this poor shmoe alive as he searches for the businessman's daughter, and continues to disbelieve his claims of bad luck; until it starts to rub off on him. By the end of the film, he is a superstitious nervous wreck, and it is fun to see this handsome leading man developing a nervous tic and believing the smallest occurrences are "a sign" that something bad is about to happen. A long stream of unpredictable and inventive incidents occur throughout the movie that would convince anyone that carrying a lucky charm is not such a bad idea after all. The end is a masterpiece of French visual humor. If you like Depardieu, check this out sometime. There are worse ways (and movies) to spend your evening. By the way, Martin Short and Danny Glover remade this movie a few years ago, and it was not a tenth as funny as the original; proving that American screenwriters need to smarten up their writing. Seven stars for me.