Depardieu hooks up with French provocateur Blier for new film

French acting legend Gerard Depardieu has teamed up again with director Bertrand Blier, the veteran provocateur behind some of his greatest hits, his producers said Thursday. Their new film, a tragi-comedy called "Convoi exceptionnel" (Special Convoy), has just begun shooting in Belgium. Blier helped launch Depardieu's career with "Going Places", a film about a pair of young thugs on a sexual and stealing spree across France, which shocked the country when it was first shown in 1974. The pair won an Oscar in 1979 for the menage-a-trois comedy "Get Out Your Handkerchiefs" and last worked together more than a decade ago on the hit "How Much Do You Love Me?", about a lottery winner who tries to keep a hooker played by Monica Bellucci all to himself. Blier's "Too Beautiful For You" -- the story of man who grows bored by his beautiful wife and falls for his much plainer secretary -- is also regarded something of a modern classic, with the New York Times calling it an "exceptionally rich romantic comedy". Depardieu played opposite his then partner Carole Bouquet in the film, which was another big international hit, winning the jury prize at the Cannes film festival. The producers, Curiosa Films, said the new film is also written by Blier, 78, and is an odd couple drama with a twist. Depardieu plays a fat guy who is always too slow to Christian Clavier's small guy who does everything too quickly.