Every Sunday, Lucien (Damien Jouillerot), his mother and his sister will attend the show of amateur clown that his father Jacques (Jacques Villeret), the village teacher, gives in the kermesses of the surroundings. To help him better understand his father, whom he finds ridiculous, André, the friend of the family, decides to reveal the boy's past to Jacques. It all starts during the Second World War. André (André Dussollier) and Jacques, faithful friends and lovers of the same woman, take the crazy bet, to seduce the beautiful, to play the resistant. Their heroic act will lead them into a funny story...