A teenage boy has run away from home, and his father cannot find him. In a rather unusual move, the boy's mother contacts two former lovers from the period when the son was conceived and tells both that he is their child. One is Jean Lucas, a hard-nosed journalist investigating the Mafia; the other is François Pignon, a timid former teacher who was on the verge of suicide when the call came. Two men who could hardly be more different must join forces to find the boy, and along the way they argue over which of them is truly his father.

How it was made

Francis Veber wrote and directed the film, reuniting Gérard Depardieu and Pierre Richard after The Goat (1981). Depardieu also served as producer, with music by Vladimir Cosma and cinematography by Claude Agostini. The cast includes Anny Duperey, Michel Aumont and Gisèle Pascal. The comedy plays on the contrast between its two mismatched leads within a investigative storyline, and it is the middle entry of three Veber comedies starring the pair, before The Fugitives in 1986.

Reception and legacy

In France it was a major box-office success, drawing well over four million admissions. Its American release in the summer of 1984 met with largely negative reviews; Siskel and Ebert gave it their harshest verdict on television, calling it basically a French sitcom. A American remake, Father's Day (1997), starring Billy Crystal and Robin Williams, reworked the roles originally played by Depardieu and Richard.