''Three Men and a Cradle'' () is a 1985 French

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

Coline Serreau Coline Serreau (born 29 October 1947) is a French people, French actress, film director and writer. Early life and education She was born in Paris,

. The film was remade in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

as ''

Three Men and a Baby ''Three Men and a Baby'' is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Leonard Nimoy. It stars Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson as three bachelors as they attempt to adapt their lives to de facto fatherhood with the arrival of the ...

'' in 1987, which subsequently inspired nine adaptations in seven languages.

Plot

Jacques, Pierre, and Michel, three bachelors, share a spacious apartment in the heart of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. One evening, during a party held in their apartment, Jacques, a professional steward, agrees to act as a courier for a package that a friend will deliver to him the next day. With little time to inform his friends, he departs for the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

for several weeks. Upon the arrival of the "package", Jacques' roommates discover the baby seems to be Jacques' daughter, sent by her mother, Sylvia, citing her work commitments as preventing her from caring for the child. Reluctantly, the two friends, unaccustomed to the responsibilities of parenthood, find themselves overwhelmed by the demands of caring for an infant—feeding, changing diapers, and enduring sleepless nights. One morning, two individuals come to claim the "package". Initially relieved, they hand over the cradle, only to realize moments later that the actual "package" awaited by the men was delivered by the caretaker days earlier, containing illicit drugs. Pierre and Michel narrowly rescue little Marie but must now swiftly return the drugs to menacing traffickers, all while under constant police surveillance. They eventually dispose of the incriminating cargo. Upon Jacques' return from his travels, the baby is reunited with her mother, and to their own surprise, the absence of the child leaves a void in their lives. However, the child's mother eventually brings her back to the roommates, marking the beginning of a new chapter in the lives of the three men as they adapt to caring for the baby.

Cast

* Roland Giraud as Pierre * Michel Boujenah as Michel * André Dussollier as Jacques * Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu as Sylvia *

Dominique Lavanant Dominique Lavanant (born 24 May 1944) is a French film and theatrical actress. She is known for her comedy skills especially with posh and distinguished characters like Rosalind Russell's; characters often defined by the adjective ''BCBG'', ' ...

as Madame Rapons * Marthe Villalonga as Antoinette * Annick Alane as The Pharmacist

Reception

Critical response

''Three Man and a Cradle'' has an approval rating of 72% on

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website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, based on 18 reviews, and an average rating of 6.2/10.

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

assigned the film a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Accolades

Remakes

''Trois hommes et un couffin'' was remade by

in English as ''

'' in 1987.

Notes

References

External links

; ''Trois hommes et un couffin'' : : : ; ''18 ans après'' : {{DEFAULTSORT:Trois Hommes Et Un Couffin 1985 films 1985 comedy films French comedy films 1980s French-language films Best Film César Award winners Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor César Award–winning performance Films directed by Coline Serreau 1980s French films Three Men and a Baby (franchise)