Louis and his Daddy are driving back home. Daddy is a past master at clowning, which does not necessarily make Louis laugh. At times Daddy gets awfully mad, picking on people who don't deserve it. That also does not make Louis laugh. But Daddy IS sweet. He knows how to soothe Louis when he is very very upset. And he can rock-a-bye his baby with a song by Niagara. Daddy has been rather slipshod lately. And ill-shaved. And has had hair-raising nightmares. Louis can burst into tears just because a little girl refuses a sticker he wants to give her. What's wrong with Louis and his Daddy? Written by Guy Bellinger
Acting
Alain Chabat balances buffoonery and breakdown like a tightrope.
Direction
Barthélemy treats tantrums and tenderness with equal weight.
Director
Maurice Barthélemy
Alain Chabat
Papa
Martin Combes
Louis
Judith Godrèche
Maman
Yaël Abecassis
Léa
Anne Benoît
Tata Martine
Michel Scourneau
Tonton Yves
Valérie Moreau
Karine, la caissière de la station-essence
Florence Muller
La réceptionniste hôtel
Marie Denarnaud
La serveuse costumée en alsacienne
Alain Dzukam Simo
Le caissier
Jenny Bellay
La dame station-service
Patrick Bordier
Le monsieur péage
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Alain Chabat improvised several clown routines; Barthélemy kept the mistakes that made Martin Combes genuinely uncomfortable.
The film belongs to a 2000s French wave of 'comédie dramatique' that rejected crowd-pleasing catharsis for unresolved emotional messiness.
FR
