The Phantom Tollbooth - Movies Reviews Index


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Home Subscribe About Us Features News Album Reviews Movie Reviews Past Movies Movie Resources Concert Reviews Book Reviews Top 10 Contact Us	OSS 117 Stars: Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, Aure Atika and Philippe Lefebvre Director: Michel Hazanavicius Scriptwriters: Jean Bruce (characters), Jean-Francois Halin and Michel Hazanavicius French language with English subtitles Mandarin Films/Music Box No rating but could be at least PG 13 Running Length: 98 minutes The spy films of the 1960’s and 1970’s are parodied with a new installment of the French spy, OSS 117 (think James Bond and Inspector Clouseau here). Jean Bruce created the characters and this is the 12th film in a popular series. Actor Jean Dujardin does a fine job as the spy who speaks his mind---often with foot firmly in it---and manages to antagonize diplomats wherever he is sent. In this case, it is Egypt. It is the late Fifties, and OSS 117 has been sent to Cairo to investigate the deaths of French agents. His contact, through a series of hilarious riffs on “How is the stew?” is the attractive Berenice Bejo who has secrets of her own. Of course, in any spy story, there has to be a second attractive female and here comes Aure Atuika as an attractive relative of King Farouk. There seems to be a disagreement between Egyptian agents and French agents, though people rapidly change sides. OSS 117 keeps remembering (black and white flashback) his friendship with agent Jack (Philippe Lefebvre), who has been murdered. Then, there is the mysterious cloaked figure who keeps appearing from behind a pillar, not to mention a Russian spy. It takes awhile to understand the character of OSS 117 if you aren’t familiar with the books or previous films. Jean Dujardin plays to perfection the spy who takes his shirt off frequently, sleeps with beautiful ladies (frequently) and the scene in a bathhouse with a masseur is priceless and straight out of James Bond (thank you, Robert Shaw.) The story is played broadly and points about Egyptian culture are made despite the comments by OSS 117 who gives the word “diplomacy” new meaning. OSS 117 builds on you and it wasn’t until the last half that I was comfortable with the story and characters. Acting is well done and the ambience of this time period, complete with driving a convertible in a hot desert, goes along with American spy films of that era. Women wear gloves and the hero bounces back. Fans of the character will be satisfied. Copyright 2008 Marie Asner