The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish (1991)

A farce, Hoskins plays a photographer who specializes in religious pictures who searches for a model for Jesus. He does a favor for a friend and finds himself doing a voice track for a ... See full summary »

Director:

Ben Lewin

Writers:

Marcel Aymé (novel), Ben Lewin

Stars:

Bob Hoskins, Jeff Goldblum, Natasha Richardson

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bob Hoskins	...	Louis Aubinard
Jeff Goldblum	...	Pianist
Natasha Richardson	...	Sybil
Michel Blanc	...	Norbert
Jacques Villeret	...	Lingerie Man
Angela Pleasence	...	Louis' Sister
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Zalman
Samuel Chaimovitch	...	Grandfather
Sacha Vikouloff	...	The Violinist
Claudine Mavros	...	Mother Superior
Carlos Kloster	...	The Archbishop
Yvonne Constant	...	Prostitute
Martine Ferrière	...	Mother of Lingerie Man
Gerald Morales	...	Bishop's Driver
Yannick Evely	...	Mother Superior's Driver

Storyline

A farce, Hoskins plays a photographer who specializes in religious pictures who searches for a model for Jesus. He does a favor for a friend and finds himself doing a voice track for a porno movie with Natasha Richardson. Hoskins finds his model for Jesus in Jeff Goldblum and a romantic triangle begins in which Goldblum finds adoring crowds believing him to be Jesus and then begins to believe it himself.

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Plot Keywords:

farce | photographer | miracle | foreign language adaptation | surrealism | 

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Taglines:

The catch of the day is fresh comedy.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK France USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 February 1992 (UK)

Also Known As:

La montre, la croix et la manière

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Gross:

$164,767 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cineplex Odeon Films, Fildebroc, Les Films Ariane

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

[last lines]
Sybil: Zalman.
Louis Aubinard: Yes?
Sybil: Where did you get that watch?
Louis Aubinard: Watch? What do you mean, watch?
Sybil: What do you mean, what do I mean, watch?
Louis Aubinard: You like this watch?
Sybil: Zalman, this the *the* watch. I'd know that watch anywhere.

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Connections

Referenced in Beverly Hills, 90210: The Twins, the Trustee, and the Very Big Trip (1992)

User Reviews

The fish is wet but the humor is dry

You have to enjoy dry humor to really get the benifet of the film. Bob Hoskins plays the main character Louis Aubinard who thinks he is the most unlucky person on the face of the earth. His whole life begins to change when his boss played by Michel Blanc threatens to fire him if he does not find an actor to be photographed as Jesus. After work he visits his friend Zalmen who is sick he asks Louis to do him a FAVOR. He asks him to go down to studio and pretend that he is him and do the sound affects for a film. After that he seea a fish market outside his friend's apartment building and sees a VERY BIG FISH and buys it for supper. The next morning he goes to the studio only to find out he is looping sound affects for a porno film. At the studio he works with a women by the name of Sybil played by Natasha Richardson. When going out to lunch with her she tells the him the story of her last job and a never smiling pianist who falls head over heals for her. She meets him because of a little rich girl who will give her a WATCH if she can get him to smile. And that is only the first 45 minutes of this very humorus film. It is a great film to watch on a rainy day.