Le bébé de l'escadron is a weird, chaotic trip

Is this worth your time?

Honestly, only if you have a thing for vintage French cinema or just want to watch Michel Simon act like a total grump for an hour. If you hate movies where the plot moves entirely because people are too stubborn to communicate, skip it. It’s a bit of a relic, but it has that strange, frantic energy you don't really see anymore.

The whole premise is basically: what if a bunch of guys who are clearly not prepared for fatherhood suddenly become dads? It’s a classic setup that usually ends in slapstick, and yeah, they really lean into it here. 🍼

The chaotic energy

The pacing is all over the place. One minute they’re dealing with the baby, and the next they’re back to military business like it’s no big deal. It feels like they shot two different movies and mashed them together. At one point, the soldiers are standing around looking so lost that I genuinely felt bad for the kid.

It reminds me a bit of the frantic vibe in Go West, though obviously in a completely different setting. Everyone is trying so hard to be funny that it feels almost exhausting.

Odd little things

• There’s a scene where someone tries to change a diaper that goes on for way too long. It’s not even that funny, just weirdly loud.
• The background extras in the mess hall scenes look like they’re waiting for a bus rather than eating lunch.
• Michel Simon has this one look he does—you’ll know it when you see it—that pretty much sums up how I felt watching the third act.

The movie doesn't really try to be smart, which is probably for the best. It’s a comedy of errors that gets stuck in its own gears more than once. Sometimes it feels like they just let the cameras roll and hoped something interesting would happen. Most of the time, it’s just people talking over each other in French, which is fine, but it gets repetitive.

If you're looking for something deep, look elsewhere. If you want to see a bunch of guys in uniform panic over a pacifier, well, you found it. It’s definitely not a masterpiece, but it’s got a personality, I guess.

Also, the ending? It just kind of stops. No big resolution, no big speech. Just done. I respect the audacity of just quitting the story when you run out of ideas. 🤷‍♂️