La smala

A movie which was certainly overrated by the critics when it was theatrically released :caustic,nasty ,with something of Italian comedy "Affreux Sales Et Méchants " ;well it's not exactly that : proof positive is given by the ending, the most hackneyed trick of the French eighties you can think of.

Fortunately ,the actors carry the movies : Josiane Balsako has plenty of go and is quite funny as this mother's helper ,sick and tired of this tribe she cannot get rid of;Victor Lanoux reprises the kind of part he played in Yves Robert 's "Un Elephant Ca Trompe Enormement" : a good-natured hubby whose wife walked out on him to live with a CRS (= member of the riot police);but here he's got all his children in tow .

The funniest moments are to be found in the first half:

-the old granny they take to the hospital after her death ("what can they do,if she's kicked the bucket?)

-the family , stealing from the supermarket ("I've got a calculator and there are the logarithms ,says the precocious brat") unbeknownst to dad who keeps on playing his accordion.

-the lovely nostalgic song " Le Dernier Twist " which captures a sliver of the sound and innocent spirit of the French early sixties.

On the other hand ,the second song , a would be hard rocker "Trip HLM " sung in a shrill voice by one of daddy's girls ,makes me put my fingers in my ears .

The second half is less entertaining:Dominique Lavanant as a transsexual ,well.. ("I was Pierrot ,now I'm Rita" ,get it?)