Three Men and a Cradle Three Men and a Cradle Home Vision Entertainment 1985 / Color / 1:78 anamorphic 16:9 / 106 min. / 3 hommes et un couffin / Street date August 9, 2005 / 24.95 Starring Roland Giraud, Michel Boujenah, André Dussollier, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu Cinematography Jean-Jacques Bouhon, Jean-Yves Escoffier Production Designer Ivan Maussion Film Editor Catherine Renault Produced by Jean-Francois Lepetit Written and Directed by Coline Serreau
	Reviewed by Glenn Erickson In 1987 we had a big hit picture in Three Men and a Baby starring Ted Danson. Barely more than a sitcom idea stretched to feature length, the predictable clowning-around and male-angst comedy concerned a trio of bachelors coping with the 'female' task of caring for infants. The film was actually an official remake of a French hit not yet two years old, from writer-director Coline Serreau. The Paris original is a good deal more compelling than its American followup -- it's a subtler take on the same commercial formula, and a lot more deeply affecting. Synopsis: Thanks to a mixup, roommates Pierre and Michel (Roland Giraud, Michel Boujenah) are stuck taking care of a baby left on their doorstep. They have no prior experience and are unable to contact their third roommate Jacques (André Dussollier) -- to whom the baby was 'addressed' -- all the while fending off drug police interested in another 'package' they received but didn't expect. Face it - the appeal of this story idea, American or French, is the "Aaahh" factor: Who is going to object to a light comedy that gives the viewer plenty of time to enjoy looking at plump, healthy, happy babies? Three Men and a Cradle only needed a stiff dose of American moralizing to make the jump across the Atlantic for a quickie remake. Pierre, Michel and Jacques are three upscale Parisian males able to afford a nice apartment perfect for their favorite hobby, seducing beautiful women. They host friendly parties that often end up with some beauty or another staying for the night. It's bachelor heaven on the Seine. Writer Serreau throws in a pair of coincidental mixups worthy of an episode of I Love Lucy. Jacques' irate girlfriend simply leaves a baby on his doorstep, with a note saying she's going to America and will be back in six months. But Jacques is himself gone for three weeks (he's an airplane pilot on vacation), forcing his roommates to scramble to take care of the kid. Unfortunately, they mistake little baby Marie (the cutest little pink-cheeked tot imaginable) for another package -- someone is using their apartment as a drop for a small consignment of dope. The setup avoids becoming offensive for one simple reason, and that's that we're concerned for the immediate well-being of the kid and identify with the men's scrambling effort to properly take care of it. True, the incredibly reckless (not to mention unbelievable) abandonment of a baby on a doorstep is handled far too lightly - that kind of thing happens too much in real life and there's nothing funny about it whatsoever. Likewise, the think-fast dodges the boys go through to hide the drug shipment from the cops don't mix very well with the basic story. After that episode passes, we're more than entertained with the way the boys solve their more down-to-diapers problems. That's what the French movie does far better than the mawkishly mechanical US remake. The men become dedicated pros tending their little Marie, and bond with her quite seriously. The later stages of the tale don't bother with trying to make Marie legitimate or finding a husband for her ditzy mother, a model who parks her in hallways while attending auditions. By the end of the show we're in a quite satisfying Three Godfathers situation, and Marie has not one but a trio of doting father figures. The only downside to the story is obvious - exaggeration or not, it's not all that pleasing to see a baby being put at risk, even as a joke. The movie never does manage a tone where we accept potential jeopardy as part of its relaxed and natural flow. Or maybe that's just the attitude of a protective father. A modern American comedy would think nothing of putting a baby in the path of an oncoming steam roller, if its makers thought it might get a laugh. Ms. Serreau's direction is very smooth, as is the lush photogaphy by Jean-Jacques Bouhon and Jean-Yves Escoffier. I would bet that one of them is a professional baby-wrangler charged with engineering the many charming moment with little Marie -- the matching with the rest of the scenes is excellent. Even in her facial expressions and baby-talk, by the end of the picture Marie begins to seem definitely French. André Dussollier, who plays the supposed birth father of Marie, is notable in the starring role in Claude Lelouch's Toute une vie, and as the crippled artist in the more recent Amélie. His artistic roommate Michel Boujenah has a great role as a refugee hiding from the Nazis in Claude Berri's 1995 Les Misérables (which Warners really needs to grace with a DVD release). Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu is compellingly inconsistent as the errant mother. Nobody could make the baby-abandoning part of the role work, but she's convincing both as a gorgeous model and as a tearful single working woman who can't cope with her responsibilities. The movie never says as much, but it makes a nice case for a Utopian world in which both male and female adults are involved in caring for children, no matter whose babies they might be. Home Vision's DVD of Three Men and a Cradle is a pleasingly attractive presentation in perfect condition. The enhanced image is sharp, brightly colored and free of blemishes. The audio track is equally clear. Director Serreau appears in a thoughtful interview, explaining that her story was prompted by an interest in the changing domestic roles of men. A 'video lullabye' takes the song Au clair de la lune from the film and makes it into montage of baby moments. A brief collection of scenes and statements around the film's Toy Giraffe shows tiny on-camera glimpses of Roland Giraud and Michel Boujenah, indicating the possibility of a longer docu that didn't make it to this Region 1 disc. The French trailer uses a specially staged sequence of a beautiful woman dropping off a baby in a basket. We know it's a special shoot because neither the lady nor the basket match what's in the film proper. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Three Men and a Cradle rates: Movie: Excellent Video: Excellent Sound: Excellent Supplements: Coline Serreau interview, brief featurettes Au clair de la lune and Toy Giraffe, trailer Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: July 29, 2005 [Savant Main Page] [Savant Links] [Article Index] [Review Index] [Savant 5 Year Report] DVD Savant Text © Copyright 2007 Glenn Erickson Advertise With Us Review Staff | About DVD Talk | Newsletter Subscribe | Join DVD Talk Forum Copyright © DVDTalk.com All rights reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use