OSS 117: LOST IN RIO
I don’t know about you, but I look to French films for stylish love stories and potent social dramas. I definitely don’t look to Gallic movies for slapstick comedy, a genre at which the French are especially bad.
You remember the lame 2006 comedy “OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies,” right? No?
Unfortunately, the director (Michel Hazanavicius) and star (Jean Dujardin) do, and are back with “OSS 117: Lost in Rio,” an equally tired comedy.
MORE ON THE MOVIES BLOG: BOX OFFICE PREDICTIONS
This time, bumbling French agent Hubert Bon-isseur de la Bath (Dujardin) — a third-rate Austin Powers — is sent to Brazil in search of microfilm that details French collaboration with the Nazis during WWII.
Sexist, racist humor abounds, with Jews and gays especially taking a beating. I don’t always object to non-PC humor — but I like it to be funny, and here it isn’t. Like I’m expected to roll in the aisle when Hubert goes to a Nazi gala dressed like Robin Hood. I don’t think so.
On the plus side, the scenery is pleasant and the Hitchcock references (“North by Northwest” and “Vertigo,” for example) sometimes elicit laughs.
But on the whole, “OSS 117: Lost in Rio” — as we used to say in the eighth grade in Boonton, NJ — is as funny as a rubber crutch.