Le petit baigneur

Louis de Funès is, without a doubt, one of the greatest comedic actors of all time. His exaggerated facial expressions, frantic energy, and impeccable timing make every scene he's in more entertaining. Le Petit Baigneur is another example of his genius, filled with slapstick humor, misunderstandings, and chaotic situations that spiral out of control in the most hilarious ways.

That being said, the movie is sometimes hard to follow. The pacing can feel a bit off, and certain scenes drag on longer than necessary. While it has plenty of funny moments, it doesn't quite reach the brilliance of Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez or La Grande Vadrouille. The story itself is simple, following an unlucky boat designer caught between a demanding boss and a series of ridiculous situations.

Despite its flaws, it's still a great comedy, especially if you enjoy classic French humor. Funès carries the entire film on his back, and his performance alone makes it worth watching. If you're a fan of vintage comedies with absurd yet charming humor, this is a solid choice.

Louis de Funès will always remain the best French comedian there ever was. His mimics, his nervous character, his shouting and raging, I just can't get enough of it. I watched Le Petit Baigneur so many times, like all other movies with Louis de Funès, and it's still funny. It's the kind of comedies that remind me of my youth, when watching a movie with Louis de Funès was a family thing, a guarantee for a funny movie night. Le Petit Baigneur is probably not his best one, but it's certainly not the worst either. Even after more than fifty years later I still think about Castagnier every time I see a ginger head passing by. There are old movies that don't age well, but this one is not one of them, it's still as funny as the first time I watched it.

Once upon a time, long before the raise of lousy actors such Christian Clavier and his VISITEURS crap, where you need some help to know when to laugh, there were excellent movies, with Louis De Funès for instance, really funy, full of gags and also chiseled by terrific dialogues and over the top acting. I am not fond of comedies, especially Frenchie ones, so corny, for only concerning fifties and early sixties, starring the likes of Darry Cowl and directed by such film makers as Raoul André, Andre Berthomieu, Jean Boyer, Jack Pinoteau...But directors such Robert Lamoureux, Jean Girault, Yves Robert or Robert Dhéry, especially starring Louis de Funès, that's another matter. Here, De Funès is the master of ceremony; without him Robert Dhéry would certainly have failed. But who cares, just enjoy and laugh. You'll know when to laugh, unlike LES VISITEURS.

Unlike Paris tag-line, this movie is sometimes like the Titanic: it floats and sinks. In other words, the movie has very good moments but also very, long and dull parts: the long endless ships race at the beginning, the carnage of the tractor and the chase of the floating toilets. Outside those moments, the movie is really funny: Fufu is the typical Fufu, embodying a mean, cupid and rich boss. His talent is to find spots to have fun with such mean person and almost make him likable and human! Around him, he finds a strange read-head family. All this happens a long time ago in France and in the country, so you can have a nostalgic travel into time as well.

Louis de Funès is so funny. A lot of his movie would be plain bad if he wasn't the main actor. He's so good playing the avaricious industrial, just like in "Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob". "Le Petit baigneur" is not as good, though, as "Rabbi Jacob". It's funny but some scenes drag on and no (ex. the church who's crumbling apart or the tractor scene). But still a pleasant 90 minutes.

Out of 100, I give it 72. That's good for ** out of ****.

Seen at home, in Toronto, on November 25th, 2002.