Cebalord Very best movie i ever watch

NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Lancoor A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

markwood272 Saw this in an un-subtitled version 8/6/15. Monsieur DeFunes is in fine form as a champion of traditional French gastronomy farcically at war with "industrial" cuisine. The pairing with Coluche works better than a bottle of Bordeaux alongside a plate of bifteck frites. DeFunes' Donald Duck persona complements Coluche's sad clown, the son of DeFunes' character secretly pursuing a career in greasepaint under le big top. The whole thing must have worked for me because I laughed. Here is a very entertaining movie. After having seen several DeFunes movies, I find myself asking once again, why didn't this talent catch on in America, other than very modestly for his work in "Rabbi Jacob"? (1973) The guy was funny. Coluche was not going for the big laughs in the movie here, instead playing in convincing fashion a sympathetic character, as the script intended. I want to see more of his movies, too. We Americans may not appreciate his humor the way the Europeans did, but this film clearly displays his ability as an actor in possession of considerable emotional depth.

t_atzmueller If it takes me to explain to you that the French take their cuisine very seriously, you probably have just arrived on this planet and seek somebody to take you to our leader. Sure, cheese that reek like dead mans feet, stuffed duck or escargot (that's snails, in case you live in the States) are not everybody's cup of tea. But taste is debatable. Quality is not and for things concerning (culinary) quality, you need not look further than La Belle France. It doesn't come as a huge surprise hence that many French films concern themselves with the kitchen and even less of a surprise that master-comedian (and passionate chef in his own rights) Louis de Funes would eventually take the topic on.Publicist Charles Duchemin (de Funes) is the bane of all French restaurants: His food-guide bestows the much coveted Duchemin-Stars upon the restaurants (or takes them away if warranted – which is more often the case than not). Having some of the keenest taste-buds in all of France, Duchemin takes it upon himself to "test" the individual restaurants, usually disguised as a harmless (looking) old lady or an American tourist. But Duchemin has a nemesis of his own: scheming Jacques Tricatel (deliciously slimy Julien Guiomar), industrial food-producer that delivers virtually artificial food to chains and roadside Inns. Being challenged to a TV-interview by Tricatel, Duchemin (after having almost been 'poisoned' by eating some of Tricatels produces) has lost his sense of taste, yet must save French cuisine somehow.It is my firm opinion that de Funes later films were also his best. This goes for "The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob", his second-to-last feature "The Cabbage Soup" as well as "L'aile ou la cuisine", filmed shortly after de Funes had recovered from a massive heart-attack. Perhaps it was his failing health and age that made the comedian (slightly) move away from his hyper-paced screen-persona to a more subtle humour (despite all the typical trademarks still being present, albeit tuned down). In the past, de Funes sidekicks had a hard time not being paled out by de Funes performance, but in his later years you could tell, that the comedian timed his humour so as to give the other cast-member some breathing space. In this case comedian Coluche, playing de Funes son and reluctant partner-in-crime, who would rather be a circus-clown than a connoisseur. Like de Funes, Coluche has mastered the art of physical slapstick without turning the gags into an infantile farce. The scene, where he inherently mimics a waiter with a nervous disorder, is pure slapstick gold, turning it almost into an art-form.Apart from being one of de Funes last few films, it does have a rather depressing prophecy. If you have travelled through France and Belgium, the hearts of European cuisine in recent days, you will have noticed the abundance of fast-food-joints in the cities and highway-stops. You may even have tried the grub there (I refuse to call it food) and, if you have seen the film, you may have looked around, looking whether you'd spot the "Tricatel"-logo anywhere, perhaps printed on the thigh of a chicken – if indeed chicken it was that they were serving.Still, the film remains a delight and a clean 8/10

semiotechlab-658-95444 After having landed a world-success with Gerard Oury's "The mad adventures of Rabbi Jacob" (1975), Louis De Funes suffered his first severe heart attack. Nevertheless, only one year later, he starred in an other great success: "The Wing or the Thigh" (1976). However, while Rabbi Jacob became world-famous and is since long available as one the deplorably very few De Funes movies on DVD, "L'Aile Ou La Cuisse" never reached the stardom of his predecessor. About the reasons one can only speculate. So, De Funes suggested to put Coluche's name on the advertisements posters, Coluche who plays De Funes' son and was one of the greatest French stars of comedy, circus, TV and politics - but unknown to a greater audience outside of France. Moreover, the topic of this movie is the beginning of "Convenience Food" (so the official term) in France in the mindst-70ies. In the US, however, frozen food in the form of "TV dinners" and other convenient forms of thawing or reheating pasteurized meals had already a long tradition at that time. Obviously, the producers were afraid that "L'Aile Ou La Cuisse" would not be understood outside of Europe. But nevertheless, Louis De Funes, although pale-looking and quieter than in his earlier works, can show all registers of his gigantic comic talent in this movie. In Coluche, he has a quite non-fitting partner, but one who was wise enough not to upstage De Funes, but to persuade with his soft or even tacit humor. As usual for all De Funes movies, the plot is coherent and convincing from A to Z, the topic is still not dusty, because meanwhile our world has been over-rolled by successors of Monsieur Tricatel from the movie, and Louis De Funes is, as he ever was, the most sympathetic heroic anti-hero, bourgeois anti-bourgeois and military anti-militarist how he can perhaps only exist in France.

Nicholas Rhodes An excellent comedy which deals with the theme of traditional cuisine versus industrial cuisine. Traditional is personified by the Guide Duchemin (skit on Guide Michelin ) and industrial cuisine by Tricatel ( which I must assume is a skit on Jacques BOREL ) whose awesome director was played by Julien Guiomar. Louis de Funès plays the Michelin man who in secret and under various disguises tests out restaurants who in spite of this recognise who it is. Duchemin ( DE FUNES ) has a son (played by the late great French comedian Michel Colucci or "Coluche" who gives the impression of carrying on in the same line as his father but in reality is more interested in circus-clowning ! All actors give magnificent performances and the plot is brilliant. A most enjoyable moment to be spent, and now it's available on DVD in France at rock-bottom price !