Three Men and a Baby/Trois Hommes et un Coiffin (lit. Three men and a cradle) (French version, original, subtitled)

Pierre, Jacques et Michel are three yuppie bachelors living it up in France, when one day a bombshell - in the form of baby Marie - is dropped at the doorstep to their plush Parisian apartment.

Some of us may remember the 1987 US version, in which Tom Selleck held the main role as Peter. All names were anglicised for the US hit comedy remake, but that's where the similarities end, despite the screenplay having been written by original writer and director Coline Serrau. The original contains quintessentially French humour and a very witty script, and some of the the subtitled translations are particularly well-matched for comic effect. After a while, the comedy is all-absorbing and transcends language barriers, shown by it's three French César awards in 1986 and an Academy Award nomination in its year of release (1985).

All in all, quite an uncanny mix – drugs, bumbling police officers, not to mention baby-related mishaps aplenty; its Gallic script making the most of the farcical and almost surreal nature of such events. Notwithstanding this lightheartedness, more serious undertones of the plot reveal the paternal bonds developing for the baby as they care for her, making for a warm and funny family film, more genuine and less sugar-coated than the US version. [Yasmin Ali]