OSS 117: Lost in Rio: A Favorite French Spy Spoof Returns From SIFF

This sequel to the delightful French 2006 retro romp OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies now revives a different spy era. Agent OSS 117 (Jean Dujardin) is back, but he’s stumbled forward from the early Cold War espionage period (James Bond) to the late ’60s (perilously close to Austin Powers). Dispatched to Brazil to retrieve some damning microfilm from Nazis, our blithely arrogant dimwit hero encounters hippies, Jews (including a sexy Mossad agent played by Louise Monot), Chinese assassins, and loud-mouthed CIA bullies. And, yes, Dujardin’s Hubert manages to offend them all with his oblivious, De Gaullist notions of patriarchal French superiority. But we got that joke the first time. After a ski-lodge dance-party intro, Hubert’s antics—and all the split-screen Thomas Crown Affair montages—become progressively less hilarious, allowing you to study the perfect period costumes and background decor. Hubert’s lapels are wider, the ladies’ skirts are shorter, men’s hair is longer, and strange new polyester fabrics now come in burnt oranges, bright mustards, and startling mauves. Much to his chagrin, the world is changing around Hubert. Still, he clings to the old ways. When the Mossad hottie lists his many imperfections—”You’re old, full of yourself, borderline racist…”—he hears only one criticism, and sounds genuinely hurt by it: “A tacky dresser?”