Caught in the Foreign Legion: A hilarious escape from a nagging wife

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, it depends on how much you like watching a guy get pushed around by everyone he meets. If you’re a fan of classic French comedy, you’ll probably find Fernand’s plight pretty funny. If you prefer your movies to have a bit more, uh, logic, you might want to skip this one entirely.

Fernand Espitalion starts the movie as the kind of husband who waits outside like a literal dog while his wife handles business. It’s a bit depressing, actually. Watching him get drugged and shoved into a uniform is supposed to be the joke, but it feels like he’s finally catching a break.

There is this one scene at the bar where the switch happens. It’s so obviously staged that you have to laugh. The way the rogue just swaps the papers while Fernand is snoring away is classic 1930s storytelling logic.

Once he’s in the Legion, the movie shifts gears. The desert scenes have this weird, dry energy to them. It feels like the director just let the extras do whatever they wanted in the background. Sometimes it looks like they are barely holding it together.

It’s funny how the military life, which is supposed to be hard, is painted as a total relief for our guy. It’s a bit of a commentary on his home life, I guess, but I’m not sure the writers meant to make it look this bad.

The wife finally showing up in Algeria is the peak of the chaos. She’s like a force of nature that the Legion doesn't know how to handle. It reminded me a bit of the domestic scrambling you see in As Husbands Go, where the chaos just follows the characters around no matter where they hide.

The pacing is a bit all over the place. One minute they are doing drills, the next there’s a dramatic standoff. It’s not smooth, but it has heart. Or maybe just a lot of sand.

Odd bits and pieces:

• The uniforms look about three sizes too big for half the guys.
• The bar scene goes on for an eternity.
• I’m still not sure if the virus plot in other movies like this is better or worse than the 'accidental recruit' trope.
• There is a moment where Fernandel just stares into the camera that felt like it lasted a full minute.

It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a fun way to kill an afternoon if you don’t mind the grainy quality. Sometimes a movie just needs to be silly to work. This one mostly manages that.