With so many scripts such as "The Tall Blond with a Black Shoe", "A Pain in the Ass" and the internationally acclaimed "The Birdcage", Francis Veber already confirmed in the 70's his status as one of the most promising and talented comedic screenwriters of French Cinema, the equivalent of Billy Wilder if we also take his directing into consideration. But in the early 80's, he had only directed one movie called "The Toy", starring Pierre Richard and released in 1976. And although the film was a modest commercial success, it was not until the release of "The Goat" in 1981 that Veber made his deserved entrance in French Comedy's Hall of Fame.
"The Goat" is now regarded as a classic of French comedy and a film that didn't lose its appeal after 30 years. Featuring for the first time the duo made of Gerard Depardieu and Pierre Richard, who would appear in two other films, the film uses the basic ingredients of the typical buddy movie with the funny guy and the straight one, in other words, the eternal "odd couple", but that's only on the surface, don't let yourself fooled by the poster. Behind the laughter, "The Goat" accomplishes something more impressive, it makes us care for the two characters and not just on a comedic aspect. Indeed, no matter how funny the gags are, what makes the film so impacting is the progressive bond going between Campana (Depardieu) and Perrin (Richard), who'll learn to get along despite their differences. Any other director would have made this material cliché, but Veber always finds the right note, and seems to get the best from the two lead actors, making the supporting cast more forgettable and guilty of providing a false feeling of B-movie. For instance, the movie is set in Mexico, but people there speak good French with no accent whatsoever, these details were perceived as futile precisely because the story was the most important.
I don't want to make the film sound serious when it's indeed a great comedy, still funny and fresh by today's standards. My point is that the core of the film is the relationship transcended by Depardieu and Richard's incredible performances. Pierre Richard is like the 'Steve Martin' of French comedy, with a natural clown-face that made him the perfect lovable loser of French Cinema. Richard plays François Perrin, a modest accountant so unlucky and accident prone that no day of his life passes without him being victim of a misfortune. What could have lead to a series of goofy situations is not overdone in the film as the point is not Perrin's bad luck, but how his bad luck would lead to the rich businessman's daughter, Marie. This point is essential because it explains the failure of the dreadful American remake: "Pure Luck" (starring Danny Glover and Martin Short). Marie appears in the first scenes, she's kidnapped in Mexico and apparently suffers from the same bad-luck syndrome than Perrin. After many fruitless investigations, the father's psychologist suggests that the detective Campana goes back to Mexico with Perrin, feeling that this time, Perrin's bad luck would be the compass guiding them to Marie.
We laugh at this premise that flirts with fantasy, and of course, Campana, the tough-guy detective played by Gerard Depardieu comfort our feelings and embodies our thoughts. He's a no-nonsense guy, reasonable and don't believe in luck or hazard, but It's a last-chance mission and Perrin, after having given a luminous demonstration of his daily bad luck through a funny test involving chairs, is chosen for "his remarkable intelligence and perspicacity" to look for Marie, with Campana as an assistant. The duo works perfectly, because Perrin is not naturally funny, but funny despite himself, he takes his role, his mission so seriously that he's incapable to realize his total incompetence. And we see him trough the condescending eyes of Campana. I read in the Trivia section that Depardieu wanted to play Perrin's part; this proves that he's one hell of an actor, but not much of a casting agent. Depardieu, as the duo's straight-man, is the one who makes the situations funny. When Perrin accidentally burns Campana's tie, it's funny okay but the look on Depardieu's deadpan face is the laugh-out-loud pay-off. Depardieu's reactions are almost as equally hilarious as Richard's clumsiness, if not more.
And as the story progresses, and some of Richard's misadventures start to give clues about Marie's disappearance, we understand that the psychologist's theories are not without validity, but at this precise moment, the focus is more on Depardieu and Richard's odd couple, and its evolution, especially when Campana's confidence about the nonexistence of bad or good luck starts to be seriously shaken, through his companionship with Perrin. At one point, both are in jail with another prisoner, and then they're informed that every day, the guards take one prisoner to beat him badly, Depardieu's pitiful face while looking at Richard, made me laugh so hard, but the twist that went after literally killed me. If only for the 'prison part' which is pure comedy gold, the film deserves to be a classic among the classics. Although, I would have done it without some gags, like the inexcusable gorilla coming from nowhere, while there are no Apes in South America. Apart from this one, the rest works perfectly.
And speaking of South America, the film also possesses an undeniable escapist value from the setting, something that would appeal to every audience, and it's beautifully served by whom I believe to be the greatest French composer ever: Vladimir Cosma. Cosma who scored Veber's films and some of the most classic French comedies beautifully conveys this mix of exoticness and melancholy in his theme and it perfectly serves the film's conclusion, which is as poetic and satisfying as any other movie's endings, magnificently closing the first opus of one of the most defining duos of French comedy: Gerard Depardieu and Pierre Richard.
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