Reviewed by Doug Cooper
Stars Jean Dujardin, Louise Monot, Rudiger Vogler, Alex Lutz, Reem Kherici, Pierre Bellemare, Ken Samuels, Serge Hazanavicius, Laurent Capelluto, Cirillo Luna
Written by Jean Francois-Halin & Michel Hazanavicius
Certification UK 15 | US xx
Runtime 101 minutes
Directed by Michel Hazanavicius
On a par with the first effort (OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies), this is entertaining enough even though it runs out of steam before the end. And the widescreen cinematography is fab, perfectly capturing the '60s spy movie look with garish costumes and production design.
Dujardin is its chief asset, however. He's a terrific comic actor and ideally cast as the suave, intrepid but bungling secret agent here sent on a mission to Rio de Janeiro to track down a high ranking Nazi. He's accompanied by attractive Mossad agent Monot and obviously can't resist sexist remarks to her as well as painful anti-Semitic remarks to her colleagues – all done with a straight face. The striving for laughs is of first importance so even though many of the gags fall flat another will soon be along to remedy the situation.
A particularly funny scene shows the looks of ardour from all the beautiful girls at the poolside when he makes an attempted dive in a swimming pool. Their expressions of disappointment when he doesn't fulfill his task are vastly amusing. The scattershot tone of the proceedings keeps boredom at bay for the first half with sundry disguises deployed and spirited playing from the participants. But after about an hour one feels somewhat exhausted and the comedy becomes slightly wearying. There's a firm intelligence at work here but the makers don't seem to realise they're on to too much of a good thing. Too many ideas are thrown in for the sake of a chuckle and it begins to wear one out.
A third OSS adventure is on its way. Keep the stylish presentation lads but let's have a little more brevity next time.