Jo might not be the funniest movie with Louis de Funès but I still enjoy it as much as the first time I watched it. To me there are no bad movies starring Louis de Funès. He's by far the best comedian France as ever had, the man with 40 different facial expressions per minute, always very energetic and a delight to watch. Jo has flaws like most French comedies from the seventies but the cast makes this movie enjoyable to watch. Louis de Funès, Claude Gensac, Bernard Blier and Michel Galabru, all comedians that everybody liked, are almost a guarantee for a funny movie. Claude Gensac played again the wife of Louis de Funès, she would do that ten times in her career, a thing we were all familiar with after awhile. Her collaboration with Louis de Funès always worked. Louis de Funès can make any movie good as his energy, screen presence and great sense of humor are always very enjoyable to watch. The story in Jo isn't perfect, that's obvious, but even those minor faults can't bring the quality of this movie down. When I watch a movie like this one I just want to watch more movies starring Louis de Funès, he has that kind of charisma you never get enough of.
18 Reviews
When it's bad, it's really bad ... but when it's funny, it's really funny ...
ElMaruecan8223 August 2013
"Jo" is a strange comedy, it indulges to so many embarrassingly bad moments, even by 60's- 70's French standards, yet it contains probably three of the most brilliant comedic moments from any film. Now, I'm wondering: is "Jo" a hilarious film with some bad moments, or an unfunny film with a few good moments?
I'm decided not to provide a definite answer to that question, out of my love and admiration to Louis de Funès, who deserves a spot in the Top 10 funniest actors who ever lived. If there ever was a Pantheon erected for comical legends, De Funès deserves a place among Chaplin, Keaton and peers. His mimics, mannerisms and body language possessed that unique timeless and universal appeal that prevented all his films to be branded as 'dated', even when they were.
At the end, even De Funès' detractors had a sentimental weakness for him and reckon that his talent could redeem the lousiest plots or any displays of bad acting, film-making or editing that could damage his films. But once you got De Funès on screen, you knew you were onto something that will draw a big smile in your face. Well,I smiled a lot with "Jo" but I laughed too, and I mean belly laughs hurting my stomach. So, if only for three hilarious sight-gags, I'm ready to concede that the film deserves to be watched, especially since it features, for the second time, Louis de Funès and Bernard Blier, perfect as the harassing no non-sense inspector Ducros.
To please your curiosity, one of the three laugh-out-loud moments is a hilarious running gag involving a couch. There are two but the best one consists on making Funès' character sitting next to the police officer and no matter the spot he chooses, he looks incredibly small. The scene is even more hilarious since Blier wasn't much taller than De Funès. The gag in itself is cute but its second using is the icing on the cake, De Funès sits with his real estate agent, an elderly small woman and yet she towers him with pride. Then he gets up and realizes he's shorter than her and his wife, and leaves the scene totally devastated. De Funès' short stature has always been a comedic asset but no film has exploited it with such amusing cruelty than "Jo".
The second gag is visual too, De Funès slide the hand rail, only to notice the presence of Ducros and gets back upstairs the 'Mary Poppins' way. The third gag is as random, but so are De Funès' funniest moments, a police officer (Paul Préboist) ostensibly courts his wife, De Funès' reaction imitating the sound of a cat are incredibly hilarious. I wish more Americans would be familiar with the work of De Funès, if only to have the privilege to enjoy such moments and thank God some websites like Youtube to break the frontiers of comedy. These are the three greatest gags of the film, many others involve a cadaver that can't be put straight under a couch and some irresistible exchanges between Ducros and De Funès that I'm afraid, will be lost in translation.
Now, need I to describe the plot? I'll give a few elements since I used the word 'cadaver'. The film is about a rich playwright, Antoine Brisebard, rehearses the perfect crime with his friend; pretending it's for a new script. But he has a man in his minds, a blackmailer named "Jo". The theme is surprisingly dark for a De Funès' film, but it works since Antoine is so hassled from beginning to end that we can't help but feel sorry for him. His misadventures start when he tries to bury a hole under the foundations of the future bandstand, except that the builder was so upset by the new hole in his hole he filled it again.
And after digging a new hole and putting the corpse, Antoine finds out the day after that that the foundations, supposed to resist for 200 centuries wouldn't survive a stormy night, so he must find a new way to hide the corpse, wrapped un in a bath curtain (the bandstand builder is played by Michel Galabru, another typical acolyte of De Funès). The following day is marked by zaniness and qui proquos, but the only actors who are believable are De Funès, Blier and Claude Gensac who played Funès' wife in about ten films, and again, she's of a scene-stealing delight. The lawyer plays his part very well, but Lord, what was with the actress who played the maid constantly laughing at any macabre scene? Since she witnessed the first false killing, she thought that anything else was a set-up. But the gag was so repeated it became quickly annoying.
The plot isn't to blame, not the main cast, but the director Jean Girault, should have paid more attention to these little details and re-shoot a few scenes that didn't involve De Funès. Although Girault is the director who directed De Funès the most, he wasn't on the same league as Molinaro ("Oscar" and "La Cage aux Folles") or Gérard Oury who signed De Funès' most acclaimed comedies ("La Grande Vadrouille" and "The Mad Aventures of Rabbi Jacob"), and it shows in "Jo", sometimes, very painfully. And I was bewildered at a film that could have allowed so many cheap moments where it featured so much comedic brilliance.
At the end, "Jo" is a mixed result, it's very funny when it's funny, but reaches so many lows that we only forgive because of the many laughs we had. But there's one thing that the film needed is a great ending, the perfect punch-line for a not-to-be-taken seriously story, but it was treated hastily as the rest of the plot, a pity because the film could have been one of De Funès' greatest films but it seemed that the director embraced the same stressful impulsiveness than his character.
I'm decided not to provide a definite answer to that question, out of my love and admiration to Louis de Funès, who deserves a spot in the Top 10 funniest actors who ever lived. If there ever was a Pantheon erected for comical legends, De Funès deserves a place among Chaplin, Keaton and peers. His mimics, mannerisms and body language possessed that unique timeless and universal appeal that prevented all his films to be branded as 'dated', even when they were.
At the end, even De Funès' detractors had a sentimental weakness for him and reckon that his talent could redeem the lousiest plots or any displays of bad acting, film-making or editing that could damage his films. But once you got De Funès on screen, you knew you were onto something that will draw a big smile in your face. Well,I smiled a lot with "Jo" but I laughed too, and I mean belly laughs hurting my stomach. So, if only for three hilarious sight-gags, I'm ready to concede that the film deserves to be watched, especially since it features, for the second time, Louis de Funès and Bernard Blier, perfect as the harassing no non-sense inspector Ducros.
To please your curiosity, one of the three laugh-out-loud moments is a hilarious running gag involving a couch. There are two but the best one consists on making Funès' character sitting next to the police officer and no matter the spot he chooses, he looks incredibly small. The scene is even more hilarious since Blier wasn't much taller than De Funès. The gag in itself is cute but its second using is the icing on the cake, De Funès sits with his real estate agent, an elderly small woman and yet she towers him with pride. Then he gets up and realizes he's shorter than her and his wife, and leaves the scene totally devastated. De Funès' short stature has always been a comedic asset but no film has exploited it with such amusing cruelty than "Jo".
The second gag is visual too, De Funès slide the hand rail, only to notice the presence of Ducros and gets back upstairs the 'Mary Poppins' way. The third gag is as random, but so are De Funès' funniest moments, a police officer (Paul Préboist) ostensibly courts his wife, De Funès' reaction imitating the sound of a cat are incredibly hilarious. I wish more Americans would be familiar with the work of De Funès, if only to have the privilege to enjoy such moments and thank God some websites like Youtube to break the frontiers of comedy. These are the three greatest gags of the film, many others involve a cadaver that can't be put straight under a couch and some irresistible exchanges between Ducros and De Funès that I'm afraid, will be lost in translation.
Now, need I to describe the plot? I'll give a few elements since I used the word 'cadaver'. The film is about a rich playwright, Antoine Brisebard, rehearses the perfect crime with his friend; pretending it's for a new script. But he has a man in his minds, a blackmailer named "Jo". The theme is surprisingly dark for a De Funès' film, but it works since Antoine is so hassled from beginning to end that we can't help but feel sorry for him. His misadventures start when he tries to bury a hole under the foundations of the future bandstand, except that the builder was so upset by the new hole in his hole he filled it again.
And after digging a new hole and putting the corpse, Antoine finds out the day after that that the foundations, supposed to resist for 200 centuries wouldn't survive a stormy night, so he must find a new way to hide the corpse, wrapped un in a bath curtain (the bandstand builder is played by Michel Galabru, another typical acolyte of De Funès). The following day is marked by zaniness and qui proquos, but the only actors who are believable are De Funès, Blier and Claude Gensac who played Funès' wife in about ten films, and again, she's of a scene-stealing delight. The lawyer plays his part very well, but Lord, what was with the actress who played the maid constantly laughing at any macabre scene? Since she witnessed the first false killing, she thought that anything else was a set-up. But the gag was so repeated it became quickly annoying.
The plot isn't to blame, not the main cast, but the director Jean Girault, should have paid more attention to these little details and re-shoot a few scenes that didn't involve De Funès. Although Girault is the director who directed De Funès the most, he wasn't on the same league as Molinaro ("Oscar" and "La Cage aux Folles") or Gérard Oury who signed De Funès' most acclaimed comedies ("La Grande Vadrouille" and "The Mad Aventures of Rabbi Jacob"), and it shows in "Jo", sometimes, very painfully. And I was bewildered at a film that could have allowed so many cheap moments where it featured so much comedic brilliance.
At the end, "Jo" is a mixed result, it's very funny when it's funny, but reaches so many lows that we only forgive because of the many laughs we had. But there's one thing that the film needed is a great ending, the perfect punch-line for a not-to-be-taken seriously story, but it was treated hastily as the rest of the plot, a pity because the film could have been one of De Funès' greatest films but it seemed that the director embraced the same stressful impulsiveness than his character.
A silly story with a very good Louis de Funès
zutterjp4813 April 2019
Before becoming famous Louis de Funès has worked with famous French actors such as Jean Marais and Bourvil,playing small characters.Now in this silly comedy full of embroilments about a cadaver, Louis de Funès makes one of his best performances.But we have also to mention the others actors and actresses such as Claude Gensac, Michel Galabru,Bernard Blier whose performances are very good.
One of the best of Louis de Funes!
walter.quirtmair9 March 2000
This is one of the best films Louis de Funes has done. His type of acting is not everyones taste but if you like Jerry Lewis' movies or Peter Sellers in his Pink Panther Series - this is a *must* for you! Hilarious situations, strange but funny characters, slapstick and of course de Funes as the choleric man who has to struggle with endless problems makes an outstandig comedy. And then it's fun to watch all those 70ies costumes and decoration as well ;-)
Film Review - Jo (1971) 6.2/10
lasttimeisaw11 September 2020
"In JO, de Funès plays comedy playwright Antoine Brisebard, who has been blackmailed for years by the titular Jo, a shady figure who has been asking Antoine for hush money for a secret concerning the latter's actress wife Sylvie (Gensac). Facing financial ruins, Antoine hatches a plan to croak Jo once and for all, the foundation of the gazebo Sylvie just ordered for his birthday fits like a perfect locale to bury the body. But comedy of errors and a bird-dogging Inspector Ducros (Blier) prevent his plan from going swimmingly, Antoine even doesn't know the identity of the man he accidentally shoots, before soon the film is debased to a monomaniac slapstick about "how to hide the stiff?", Antoine and Sylvie's concerted endeavor wears thin quickly, while the hustling and bustling supporting cast doesn't help either (as the roughly manhandled maid, Christiane Muller's forced laughter is squirm-inducing), this quasi-single-location farce eventually fizzles out with more cheap knockabouts than boffola laughter."
read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks
read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks
Splendid comedy!
Starbuck-131 July 1999
This may be Louis de Funes best movie.
A wonderful story, full of silly embroilments and funny dialogues. And a wonderful de Funes at his best, full of emotions and with his very own mimic and gesticulation.
For all of you out there who have not given this wonderful French actor a chance: Get this movie and roll on the floor laughing. See how a more than harmless man kills a stranger and tries to find out who the hell he has killed and how to get rid of this recalcitrant corpse which keeps on turning up in the most unfavorable of moments... and see how just that same day this poor man's house is turned into a beehive full of strange characters.
Highly recommended!
A wonderful story, full of silly embroilments and funny dialogues. And a wonderful de Funes at his best, full of emotions and with his very own mimic and gesticulation.
For all of you out there who have not given this wonderful French actor a chance: Get this movie and roll on the floor laughing. See how a more than harmless man kills a stranger and tries to find out who the hell he has killed and how to get rid of this recalcitrant corpse which keeps on turning up in the most unfavorable of moments... and see how just that same day this poor man's house is turned into a beehive full of strange characters.
Highly recommended!
Amusing and clever and funny
Apollo15AnnoPianoCatDogSnailAnt28 January 2020
A very funny story with a cast of excellent actors.
luc-rolland-111 November 2009
This movie is adapted from a play and is the kind of high paced funny movies where one joke follows the next one. The text is excellent which is rare in comedies which tend to be vulgar. None there. The cast, as far as I am concerned Louis de Funes is in great shape but he is surrounded by even better comedians like Bernard Blier which I really enjoy so much in almost all his movies. The soundtrack reaches levels that would have made it good enough for a James Bond movie.
This movie is full of intelligence and highlights the quality of those great comedies, made in France, that were so common in those days.
I really laughed when I saw it in one Montreal's theatre when it came out and I still laughed as much recently watching it again.
Now, lets hope that this movie gets a DVD release soon.
This movie is full of intelligence and highlights the quality of those great comedies, made in France, that were so common in those days.
I really laughed when I saw it in one Montreal's theatre when it came out and I still laughed as much recently watching it again.
Now, lets hope that this movie gets a DVD release soon.
Typical De Funes to satisfy his fans
stermix50120 September 2020
This is a typical low budget De Funes movie. Could have been a theatrical version. The plot is written in white thread, but there are many laughs and we get to see familiar faces.
Not his best, but certainly with many merits
Not his best, but certainly with many merits
A rare masterpiece absolutely unavailable on VHS or DVD
marcomeyer5 August 2005
This screwball comedy of the early seventies has everything you might expect of a Louis de Funès movie: over-the-top acting (no wonder Louis had cardiac problems later on...). It can be described in one sentence by Inspecteur Ducros (Bernard Blier): "Is this a train station?". In fact, people are coming from all places, run through the house, frantically doing something like putting up a garden gazebo, demonstrating a (non-working) fire-extinguisher, doing police investigations, having a matrimonial crisis, laughing like a mad dog (the maid), doing the real-estate business and so on.
Inludes appearances by Ferdie Mayne (Mister Grunder), the notorious Count von Krolock in Roman Polanski's 1967 Dracula spoof "The Fearless Vampire Killers".
"Jo" is definitely a movie for de Funès fans as much as for those who just love to watch a fast-paced thriller-comedy. It is a shame that this gem is not yet available on DVD or VHS tape, not even in France. Since MGM seems to hold the rights one might ask why so.
Inludes appearances by Ferdie Mayne (Mister Grunder), the notorious Count von Krolock in Roman Polanski's 1967 Dracula spoof "The Fearless Vampire Killers".
"Jo" is definitely a movie for de Funès fans as much as for those who just love to watch a fast-paced thriller-comedy. It is a shame that this gem is not yet available on DVD or VHS tape, not even in France. Since MGM seems to hold the rights one might ask why so.
Jo - One of Louis best's
j-jicinsky11 January 2007
Warning: Spoilers
It's one of the best comedies with Louis De Funés because his sparring partners (Michel Galabru, Claude Gensac, Jacques Marin, Paul Préboist) are as good as Louis. In our country is Funés one of the most popular comedians. And the credit of his popularity has the dubbing, too. In Czech dubbed Louis actor Frantisek Filipovský (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0277070/)and it was the best dubbing on the world! Filipovský created some new voice gags and he spoke better than original. But in 1993 Filipovský died and after that some actors tried to continue on his road. In film Jo dubbed Funés Jiří Císler and I think that he's the best one after Filipovský's death.
More a play than a play (vhs)
leplatypus2 November 2015
I was surely not in the mood to enjoy a De Funes comedy but this movie is however not really good : sure there is some good lines and some funny visual gags, but if the story involves a original plot (an unidentified victim), it fails to escape its origin as a play. So like all failed adaptations, the movie drags and bores quickly with this big set on-stage and people coming in, speaking, coming out ! Finally, the cast seems to run to stand still and this kind of movie castrates all the gifts of cinema : multiple locations, time lapses
Here, the play commands all action live and in one place ! It's funny but one of the best Funes movie is another play, « Oscar » and watching it, we forget all those things as it's electrical, quick and totally crazy ! So as the team are different (writer, director), that's maybe the explanation but at the end, this « Jo » is really so-so.
hilarious, overbearing, hysterical
peppermintp4 September 2003
this is one of my all-time favourites. my love of louis de funés dates back to my childhood - i grew up with him bickering out of the tv set. of all his films, "jo" remains my favourite along with "l'aile et la cuisse". both are equally excellent in terms of situation comedy, dialogue and plot. they're even good in the german overdub, for heaven's sake!
the story of "jo" revolves around a playwright (of whodunnits) who has to hide a corpse from his wife and everyone else. in trying to keep his secret, he undergoes the funniest mishaps. go for "jo"!
p.s.: excellent supporting cast, too!
the story of "jo" revolves around a playwright (of whodunnits) who has to hide a corpse from his wife and everyone else. in trying to keep his secret, he undergoes the funniest mishaps. go for "jo"!
p.s.: excellent supporting cast, too!
de Funès not as choleric as usual...
dawnrain27 July 2003
In this movie, we can see a de Funès a little more human than in some other parts (I have about 45 of his movies that I watch again and again). He is frightened, he worried about his wife's reputation, he shows his love for her in a (short) moving scene.
I read the other comments about this movie. there is something I am sure of: If you can't hear the real voice of de Funès, you miss half of the fun, if you don't understand French, you miss even more. It's not obvious for all actors, but for Louis de Funès, who was also a very good mime, his way of speaking (especially when he is dominated by someone in a situation he doesn't know what to do) is unique, un-dubbable.
In France, we can see Benny Hill dubbed, I had the occasion to see some episodes with his own voice and the real texts, in French, we lost a lot. It's the same with many comedians, and for de Funès most of all.
I read the other comments about this movie. there is something I am sure of: If you can't hear the real voice of de Funès, you miss half of the fun, if you don't understand French, you miss even more. It's not obvious for all actors, but for Louis de Funès, who was also a very good mime, his way of speaking (especially when he is dominated by someone in a situation he doesn't know what to do) is unique, un-dubbable.
In France, we can see Benny Hill dubbed, I had the occasion to see some episodes with his own voice and the real texts, in French, we lost a lot. It's the same with many comedians, and for de Funès most of all.
one of Louis de Funès' best comedies...
RonAltman23 September 2001
It's as simple as that. This may be Louis de Funès' best comedy. Absolutely hilarious. We ended up quoting the dialogues and acting out the most memorable scenes. A must! I hope I'll catch it someday in a stage version.
Biggest De Funès fan disappointed with bad filmed theater farce
languedoc-586-83602811 December 2018
Like another reviewer here pointed out, "Oscar" was totally successful filmed theater - a timeless masterpiece of its genre - but "Jo" is a near total failure. All the great actors you'd expect are here though, and in their prime - Bernard Blier, Claude Gensac, Préboist... - but the humor is almost constantly thick, and the plot turns out making no sense at all in the end. All this without the gentle surrealism of "Le Petit baigneur"...
Great fun in the first half and boring mess by the end
rfed11 August 2000
Among other movies with de Funes, this might be the funniest. However, it has one drawback, typical for many french comedies. Very intensive from the very beginning, the fun and humor reach the highest point at about the middle of the movie, and after the 2/3 of it you suddenly realize that you're fed up with it, the rest seems rather stupid than funny. One woman appears every fifteen minutes with a glass of wine in her hand, another one appears every 20 minutes, laughing like a peacock. But de Funes, I have to say, never becomes boring thanks to his great talent.
In points, 8. Although the first half might get 10.
In points, 8. Although the first half might get 10.
37 out of 114 gave this a 10?!?!
JoeytheBrit12 January 2002
I gave it a 3, and I was being generous.
I watched an horrendous dubbed version on TMC, but this is one of those frantic knockabout farces that are unfunny in any language. Everyone behaves ridiculously, and reacts to each new plot twist totally unrealistically. Only the gag with the main character sitting next to the police inspector on the sofa is remotely funny. Unless you're a diehard fan of this de Funes character I'd give this one a wide, wide berth.
I watched an horrendous dubbed version on TMC, but this is one of those frantic knockabout farces that are unfunny in any language. Everyone behaves ridiculously, and reacts to each new plot twist totally unrealistically. Only the gag with the main character sitting next to the police inspector on the sofa is remotely funny. Unless you're a diehard fan of this de Funes character I'd give this one a wide, wide berth.
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