Les Anges gardiens (Guardian Angels) is a 1995 French comedy film directed by Jean-Marie Poiré (of Santa Claus Is a Stinker and Les Visiteurs fame).
Antoine Carco (Gérard Depardieu) is a selfish reformed French gangster who runs a cabaret in Paris. One day, he's tasked to take care of both Bao, the child of Yvon Radmilo (Yves Rénier), a fellow gangster and friend of Carco based in Hong Kong, and $15 million said gangster friend stole to the Triads (which gets him killed). Father Hervé Tarain (Christian Clavier) is a honest and benevolent French priest who doubles as a social worker who educates teens in trouble and accompanies them on travels abroad.
Destiny has Carco and Father Tarain cross paths and work together to protect Bao, and much mayhem ensues, not least due to both men having, respectively, a good angel (Depardieu) and a bad angel (Clavier) manifesting and annoying them at all times.
Guardian Angels provides examples of:
- Actual Pacifist: Carco's good angel is "non-violent", in his own words.
- Affectionate Nickname: Carco's good angel calls him "Toutoune".
- The Corrupter: Father Tarain's bad angel constantly goads him into sinning/doing nasty things.
- Dad the Veteran: Tarain's grandfather is a 1950s Indochina War veteran, and his Shell-Shocked Veteran experience there made him quite the racist against East Asian people.
- Electrified Bathtub: After washing the feet of Mrs. Albert, an old woman of his parish, Father Tarain wants to dry them with a hair dryer, and his bad angel makes the plugged on dryer fall in the basin of water the old woman had her feet in, and cue the electric shock. She's just fine afterwards, somehow.
- Gargle Blaster: At one point, Carco gives Father Tarain a shot glass of schnaps as "tonic". He has a rather violent reaction after drinking it.
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: Carco's guardian angel is a good angel and always suggests him to do good actions for his redemption. Father Tarain's guardian angel is... a bad angel who always tempts him to sin/do nasty things.
- Good Wears White: Carco's guardian angel is a good angel and wears white clothes.
- Guardian Angel: A Good Angel, Bad Angel case here. Carco's guardian angel indeed tries to help him become a better man, while Father Tarain's "guardian angel" keep trying to have him commit sins.
- Intangibility: Both "guardian angels" are like ghosts who can't be touched. Carco goes through his good angel while charging him at one point.
- Harmless Electrocution: Mrs. Albert is just fine after the electric shock from the hair dryer falling in the basin of water she had her feet in, only getting disheveled and slightly burned hair.
- Invisible to Normals: No-one but Carco can see his good angel, and no-one but Father Tarain can see his bad angel. Which causes endless Mistaken for Insane and other misunderstandings for both men. The angels can see each other and interact, meanwhile.
- Last Request: Yvon urges Carco to go out of his way to protect Bao and the $15 million Yvon stole just before the latter gets killed.
- Mistaken for Insane: Only Carco and Father Tarain can see their respective "guardian angels", and people around them who see them talk and shout at the air tend to think they're crazy.
- Odd Couple:
- Carco is not a very moral man and he runs a cabaret with scantily clad or nude dancers. Father Tarain is a benevolent priest who's averse to sinning. The two men find themselves forced to cooperate.
- The "guardian angels" themselves, being textbook Good Angel, Bad Angel.
- The Prankster: Father Tarain's bad angel tries to tempt him via sin suggestions and pranks (using the impunity of his invisibility and intangibility).
- The Triads and the Tongs: Yvon Radmilo stole $15 million to a Triad in Hong Kong. They find him and kill him and go after Carco to retrieve the money.
