OSS 117: Rio ne Répond Plus (OSS 117: Lost in Rio) (2009)

After really digging the first entry in this French spy-spoof series, I've been excited for the sequel, Lost in Rio. Unfortunately it remains unreleased in the US (although it came out in France while I was visiting Paris, taunting me with posters at every Metro stop), but I was lucky enough to catch it last week. The cluelessly debonair spy Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath (Jean Dujardin) aka OSS 117 is off on another undercover mission, this time in picturesque Brazil. While searching for an escaped Nazi who's blackmailing the French government, he teams up with a sexy member of the Mossad, Dolores (Louise Monot).

They run around Brazil, are attacked by various outside forces, meet up with some hippies, and even find time for some lovin'. OSS 117 spends the entire time unabashedly showcasing his ridiculous ignorance, sexism, and over-confidence drawn from his experiences as a privileged white male in the 1960's. It's like Mad Men, but more explicit. Also, funnier.

While not as hilarious as the first one, Lost in Rio still does a pretty entertaining job of parodying the condescension and over-stylization of 60's spy films by taking everything to ludicrous extremes. The frequent use of split-screen, the crazy 60's costumes, the clear rear projection in driving scenes- it's filmed like a movie from that period, but everything is heightened for comedic effect. I love the fact that almost everyone speaks perfect French, despite the fact that they're all living in Brazil. One of the Nazi characters spoke German with a French accent. The story isn't too important, made overly complex with numerous side characters and no real direction, but then I've never been able to follow any of the James Bond plots either so I guess that's a thing of these movies. I've never seen the original OSS 117 movies that this is spoofing, but I'm willing to bet the new series is spot-on.

The reason Lost in Rio is successful rests largely in the performance of Jean Dujardin, who is absolutely hilarious in the title role. He gleefully inhabits this cocky, patronizing character and takes advantage of the fact that almost every joke is at his own expense. His raised-eyebrow-sneer and full-bodied laugh should be patented. He's very silly and oddly likable despite his nonsensical, misinformed prejudices, mainly because you wonder what crazy thing he'll say next. All in all the film is a fun ride through European snobbery of the 1960's, amplified by some nice filmic details and the fantastic performance of Dujardin.

4/5