A lot of Good God..., a little Bet and Visitors: the recipes for Karicoco's success

For the first time in their careers, Christian Clavier and Didier Bourdon are reunited in the cinema. In 2009, the duo triumphed on stage in a revival of La Cage aux Folles, the timeless piece by Jean Poiret. In Cocorico, the new film by Julien Hervé (screenwriter of Tuche), the two comic actors (more than 150 million laughs watching you) engage in a very successful and funny battle.

The pitch is, we believe, on a post-it note: the Bouvier-Sauvages (Christian Clavier and Marianne Denicourt) will unite with the Martins (Didier Bourdon and Sylvie Testud); to celebrate this union, their child Alice (Chloé Coulloud) and François (Julien Pestel) offer them DNA tests. Unfortunately, certainties are shaken by the results: none of the protagonists have the origins they wanted. Stupor and sneer. The very funny and unpretentious film turns into nonsense and fulfills its main mission: to make people laugh. While Cocorico attracted 500,000 spectators in less than a week (despite negative reviews), Le Figaro decided to carry out a DNA study of this comedy, which is well on its way to being a success at the start of the year.

The parallel is easy, but relevant. Seeing their DNA test, each of the parents is in shock. While they all think they are good French people, the characters discover their new origins. A game of verbal ping-pong begins, where the floodgates about the countries or regions present in the DNA of the Bouvier-Sauvage and the Martin are flying. We have fun with clichés, the better to denounce them. This is the role of humor and satire. It feels like the introductory lunch of What We Did to the Good Lord?, the comedy with 12.3 million spectators in theaters. Bourdon and Clavier have a field day attacking, year after year, Portuguese, Spanish, English, Germans, Americans... Politically incorrect as can be. So recreational.

For around thirty years, Christian Clavier has made the specialty of playing the upper class, snobbish and contemptuous - therefore twisting. In Cocorico, he plays Frédéric Bouvier-Sauvage, an aristocrat-winemaker concerned that his daughter “make the right choice” and marry a man of his rank. Alas, Alice, a convinced and annoying feminist, chose the son of a Peugeot dealer (“As I always say: what’s the point of buying a German to drive at 130 km/h?”). The battle with Didier Bourdon reaches several peaks: first in the cellar ("a big family requires big responsibilities"), then in the small living room where Bouvier-Sauvage blithely mocks Martin's origins ("Une Bouvier-Sauvage ne can’t take Martin’s name,” whispers Clavier). We are taken back 25 years, when Didier, a right-wing pharmacist, made fun of Bernard, a little left-wing teacher, in Le Pari: “What's the point of always having more money? -To make gifts a little more presentable!” The clash of two worlds, although often hackneyed, works here thanks to the performance and temperament of the two actors: Clavier explodes, Bourdon implodes. The public laughs. A duo is born (we hope for the long term).

Apart from the French origins of Frédéric Bouvier-Sauvage, which date back to the Middle Ages, it is difficult to see what Jacquouille is doing in Cocorico. However, the character of Clavier looks exactly like Jacques-Henri Jacquart (“We don’t have a pola!”) 30 years older. He has all the quirks, annoyances and madness. Should we be surprised to see in the large gallery of family paintings, a portrait of Christian Clavier, in a purple suit, looking exactly like Jacques-Henri?

Certainly, Julien Hervé's comedy does not have the finesse of the master's films, but the beginning of Cocorico resembles the beginning of a play by Francis Veber. Everyone observes each other, the pikes are fired with a speckled foil, the drama, behind the closed doors of an Aquitaine castle, becomes clearer. And everything finally explodes with the discovery of the results. If the rest of the film resembles a more classic French comedy, Julien Hervé's feature film pays homage to the author of Le Dîner de cons... Except that this time, all the personalities could have been invited.