OSS 117: Lost in Rio (2009)

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

In late 2011, "The Artist" got released. It went on to win Best Picture (only the second silent movie to do so), as well as Best Actor and Best Director. Prior to its release, I had never heard of Michel Hazanavicius or Jean Dujardin. Right after I saw "The Artist", I saw an earlier collaboration of theirs: "OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies"."OSS 117: Rio ne répond plus" ("Lost in Rio" in English) is the sequel to that movie. It's a litany of silly fun as Dujardin's suave spy gets sent to the Brazilian metropolis to find a Nazi fugitive. The movie finds time to make fun of stereotypes, namely the chauvinistic Frenchman and the ugly American. There are a few incongruous aspects, but this sort of movie is all about blatantly silly fun, and it's very much a good time, as was "Nest of Spies". As for "The Artist", its win combined with the Oscars won by "Hugo" have hopefully put the "freedom fries" attitude to rest forever.

This film is a great test to see if your friends have a sense of humor, because no intelligent comedy fan could enjoy this. Don't let the excuses that it's "silly" humor fool you; I love silly humor, and I truly love racial and edgy humor, and this film fails at both.The writing is simply uninspired and feels like a rushed room full of executives wrote it rather than anyone who's ever worked as a comedy writer. The last joke of the movie is such a stinker it sums up the whole film. Bad jokes and lazy writing disguised with charm and good acting.I saw this film in a theater full of fans who wanted desperately to love it, but an hour in the crowd went permanently silent as the onslaught of forced humor weighed on us all. Many jokes seemed like they would have been funny 40 years ago but today are so hackneyed and simplistic it's just uncomfortable and intellectually insulting.To put it simply, if you found this movie hilarious, I'm willing to bet my life that you never make other people laugh.

Apparently, there was some OSS 117 series back in the 60s. I have never seen it and know nothing about the films. I do know, however, that just recently there have been a couple cute French spy films starring Jean Dujardin. Neither film makes a lot of sense, but they are entertaining and fun. Previously, OSS 117 went on a mission to Egypt. Now he's being sent to Rio to track down an ex-Nazi and obtain a list of French collaborators. Oddly, this film is set in the 1960s--and the previous one was set in the 50s. No matter, it's the same silly old spy character.As I said above, the film makes almost no sense at all. The Nazis have two Mexican luchadors (wrestlers in hoods) who run about Brazil in suits! This is an obvious nod to the silly Mexican luchador films where you see characters like el Santo going on dates, fighting crime or monsters or making love--all in the silly hood. There are also some black Nazis--again, this film never tries very hard to make sense! While it is all silly fun, this is still a rather adult movie--much more so than the one set in Cairo. There is some nudity, a lot of blood and a CIA agent named Bill who uses the most amazingly colorful language I've seen in a long time. Also, while it makes fun of OSS 117's racism, sexism and overall arrogant xenophobic manner, the easily offended might still blanch at the film. But considering he IS supposed to be an idiot, his comments about Jews, women and the like are all intended to point out his idiocy.In many ways this film is like an Austin Powers and Matt Helm film put together. Like Helm, there is the Dean Martin music and OSS 117's manner is pure Helm. Plus, like Helm, Dujardin is a nice looking guy. It is a bit Powers-like....but much, much more subdued and subtle--something you'd never call a Powers film! Cute and entertaining in a very low-brow sort of way.

Clearly this franchise is going to divide opinion. First of all it's a spoof and not only that but a spoof of a spoof of a spoof; when the first James Bond movie, Dr. No, took off and spawned a franchise that it still going strong it was ripe for satire and it came in two forms, Derek Flint (James Coburn) and Matt Helm (Dean Martin). The French got in the act with OSS117, which was revived a couple of years ago with a new actor, Jean Dujardin, who resembles a cross between Sean Connery and Leonard Rossiter which makes him effective for English viewers especially as he is written as a Mr. Bean with charisma. The plot is hogwash but its anti-PC stance shows its heart is in the right place. Basically you'll either laugh out loud or cringe.