Jo

Jo (1971) is a French crime comedy starring Louis de Funès — watch it online on iFILM. Directed by Jean Girault, who spent years directing de Funès vehicles and knew exactly what made him work, the film opens with a problem: a blackmailer named Jo is threatening to expose writer Antoine's wife. Antoine's solution is to invite Jo over and kill him. He does. Buries the body in a construction site foundation. Case closed.

Except the real Jo was already dead when Antoine pulled the trigger. He has no idea who he actually killed. What follows is an escalating comedy of misdirection: Antoine must now investigate a murder he committed without admitting he committed it, while the body count of misidentified corpses quietly climbs. Michel Galabru and Bernard Blier play it straight alongside de Funès, which is exactly the right call.

The film came out during the peak of de Funès' popularity, and it delivers everything his audience expected: a man who treats minor inconvenience with the energy of a full catastrophe, now applied to actual catastrophe. The plotting is absurdist but airtight. Stream Jo (1971) online on iFILM.