OSS 117: Rio ne répond plus

In 1967, OSS agent Hubert de La Bath (Dujardin), is sent to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to recover a list of French Nazi sympathizers.  He is supposed to pay a Professor Von Himmel (Vogler), a former Nazi, a blackmail price to retrieve the list.  He is given the cover identity of Noel Flantier, which he thinks is a horrible name, and told to trust no one.

In Rio, he is watched by associates of Mr. Lee, who try repeatedly try to kill him.  He is also tracked by foul-mouthed American CIA agent Bill Tremendous (Ken Samuels) and several Mossad agents.  To complete his mission, he joins forces with Mossad agent Dolores Koulechov (Monot) and Von Zimmel's hippie son Heinrich (Lutz).

The sequel to OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, the film picks up about a decade later.  The times are changing ... feminism, the hippie movement etc... but OSS 117 has not.  He is still clueless, but capable, and still played, with charm by Jean Dujardin.

Once again director Michel Hazanavicius uses the Jean Bruce OSS 117 novels as a starting point, while lampooning / mimicking other films, like the James Bond films.  The film also features several Alfred Hitchcock references (the Vertigo references are the easiest to spot, but watch for others).

The film has a great opening sequence

I love the dance party over the credits, and the rest of the scene.  The rest of the film never quite lives up to the glory of the sequence, but it is entertaining.  There is more swearing (courtesy of the American character) and some scenes of nudity.  The swearing American character is used more as a joke, but the nudity takes away from the film.  There are some laugh out loud moments, like trying to cook the alligator.

The film is good, as far as sequels go... giving us the same character, but in a different situation.  It was enjoyable and reading the subtitles does not take you out of the film.  I was a little disappointed... but I still hope they make a third film (even thought Hazanavicius and Dujardin are serious Oscar winners now).  Hazanavicius is a great director, and has a captivating and charismatic leading man in Dujardin.  I would watch just about anything they do!

OSS 117: Lost in Rio [OSS 117: Rio ne repond plus] (2009) minutes
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Starring: Jean Dujardin as Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias OSS 117
Louise Monot as Dolores Koulechov
Rudiger Vogler as Professor Von Zimmel
Alex Lutz as Heinrich von Zimmel
Reem Kherici as Carlotta