That revolve around cabbage soup being utilized by ... someone of not of this earth. Blhrl bhlbhhr

When I first saw it a few years ago, I have been deeply moved by this movie. Now I don't find it so striking, but when I reconsider it its humanity still remains. The clue is to love the characters, and then you would look sympathetically even to the stupid farting recital. The two old friends are in fact so kind at heart, striving to remain merry and hopeful, though are gradually deprived of every gift of life (youth, wife, wealth, other friends etc)! The merit of this movie is to speak in a simple way about big, sad issues. "Comedy is acting optimistic" (Robin Williams). On the plus side, one should add the great performance of the two leading actors, the jolly "accent du Midi", a too short cameo by Claude Gensac, and first of all the bitter-sweet, child-like and almost unreal solution to the loneliness of the two old men. On the minus side, a bit of a hurry sometimes, and especially the total lack of skill and motivation from the actress playing Claude's wife, ruining an important and rather unbelievable character.

The best De Funes film, quite different from the usual bulk.

When I first saw this movie, about 10 years ago, I really liked it. I remember making cabbage soup and drinking an entire bottle of wine the same night! But today, my opinion of the film differs. Not that it's a complete waste of time, but it seems it was rushed into production. Great actors (De Funès, Carmet and Villeret), but not used to their full potential. And some scenes are just plain stupid, like the farting contest. The difficulty for peasants to adjust to today's lifestyle could have been more well explored, even in a comedy of this sort. One bright note: La Denrée, played by Villeret. His language is hilarious!

Out of 100, I gave it 66. That's good for *½ out of ****. Ten years ago, I gave it 78. Seen at home, in Toronto, on November 28th, 2004.