Le Distrait

Le Distrait is a 1970 French comedy and the film that marked Pierre Richard's debut as a director. Richard also takes the lead and wrote the script with André Ruellan. The French title means roughly "the absent-minded one", and the film is also known in English as The Daydreamer; Gaumont produced it, and it runs about 85 minutes. It drew a large audience on release and launched Richard's successful film career.

The story follows Pierre Malaquet, who works at an advertising agency called Jérico. He is an eccentric and extremely absent-minded man, and his wandering mind drags his working life and everyday dealings into a chain of comic mishaps and misunderstandings. The film combines slapstick with romantic comedy and occasional touches of horror. The prototype for Malaquet is Ménalque, the forgetful figure in Jean de La Bruyère's Caractères.

Alongside Richard, Marie-Christine Barrault and Bernard Blier have the leading roles. The cast also includes Maria Pacôme, Paul Préboist, Robert Dalban, Jacques Monod and François Maistre.