This French spy spoof was released in American theaters earlier this year, including a showing at the Maine International Film Festival in July. It was recently released on DVD and is worth seeing if you are a fan of the old Sean Connery James Bond films, with a tongue-in-cheek twist. True Bond fans owe it to themselves to see this hilarious retro film that never takes itself too seriously but maintains tension and excitement.
The OSS 117 series includes several more serious spy films about the French secret service made in the ‘50s and ‘60s. This modern remake takes a more comedic tone and is influenced by the prior Bond films, other parody movies and its French predecessors. In this story, OSS 117 travels to Egypt to investigate the mysterious death of a friend. He stumbles into a more serious plan involving Arab extremists and Nazis.
The movie is set in the 1950s to give a dated quality to the film, though the sets are lavish and the humor is up-to-date. Jean Dujardin is the quintessential super spy in the Sean Connery mold. His expressions are priceless and much of the humor is from his non-verbal reactions to situations. OSS 117 is unapologetically full of himself, expects to get the girl and believes French foreign policy is always unquestionably right. This leads to awkward situations rife with laughs when he meets people who don't share this outlook.
Like the best “Naked Gun” movies, some of the humor is going on in the background of the scene, so you have to watch carefully to understand all the jokes. I would argue that this film is more true to the Bond series than the Daniel Craig movies and may be a nice respite from the sobriety of “Quantum of Solace.” The subtitles are not particularly distracting and much of the humor is situational and universal. I highly recommend giving “OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies” a try on DVD. If you like it, a sequel is in production with a 2009 European release date.
No MPAA rating. Contains comic violence and sexuality. French with subtitles.
