Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Jean-Pierre Costa is a football manager upon whom fate appears not to be smiling. First, a friend, Annabelle, dumps a pet Labrador named Didier on him whilst she goes off to make a report in Los Angeles. Next, one of his star players is injured, leaving him one player short for a crucial match. As if things could not get any worse, Costa wakes up one morning to find that that Didier has been transformed into a man...
Didier is a genuinely singular French comedy built on a wonderfully absurd premise — a Labrador retriever transforms into a man and plays professional football — executed with straight-faced commitment that gives it a distinctive, irreverent charm. The novelty of the concept and its deadpan treatment set it apart from typical sports comedies. The plot is serviceable but thin, leaning heavily on situational gags derived from the fish-out-of-water conceit without deeper development. Acting is competent and game, with the lead performance leaning into the dog-man physicality amusingly. Cinematography is functional and unremarkable, typical of mid-90s French genre fare. The ending resolves things predictably and without much emotional payoff, feeling rushed rather than satisfying.