Champignol malgré lui: A chaotic mess of doors and uniforms

Is it worth your time?

If you like theater-style comedies where people are constantly running into rooms and screaming at each other, sure. Watch it. If you have zero patience for 1930s-style pacing or plots that rely entirely on 'oh no, you're not the person I thought you were,' you will absolutely loathe every single second of this.

It’s a loud, frantic movie. Sometimes it feels like the actors are trying to break the sound barrier with their voices. I mean, honestly.

The Setup

So, there's this painter named Champignol. He gets drafted into the army because of a mix-up. Typical. The rest of the movie is just him trying to hide the fact that he doesn't know how to be a soldier while his wife deals with the actual soldier Champignol. It’s a bit of a headache.

Watching this reminded me of But a Butler! in how much it relies on the audience just accepting that these people are idiots. Nobody ever asks a simple question. If they did, the movie would end in five minutes.

The pacing is... well, it's frantic. It doesn't breathe. There’s a scene about halfway through in the barracks that feels like it’s been edited by someone with a caffeine addiction. It's just jump, cut, shout, door slams. Repeatedly.

Odd Little Moments

There is this one guy in the background during the training sequence who clearly forgot his lines. He just stands there looking at the camera for like three seconds. It’s hilarious because nobody fixed it. It’s still there. Right in the final cut.

The costumes are absurd. Some of the uniforms look like they’re made of cardboard. You can almost see the paint chipping off the buttons. It adds this weird, cheap charm that I kinda dug.

I found myself thinking about The Old Lady while watching this, mainly because the tonal whiplash is so different. This movie doesn't want you to think. It just wants you to laugh at a guy tripping over his own sword.

• The shouting gets real old, real fast.
• The doors in this house must be broken from how hard they slam them.
• I’m pretty sure someone loses their hat in every third scene.

It’s not a masterpiece. It’s barely a movie, really. It’s a filmed stage play that refuses to stop yelling at you. But if you're in the mood for something that doesn't ask for a single brain cell, you could do worse. 🤷‍♂️