Review: OSS 117 Lost in Rio DVD

STUDIO: Music Box | DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicius | CAST: Jean Dujardin, Louise Monot, Rüdiger Vogler, Alex Lutz, Reem Kherici
RELEASE DATE: 8/31/10 | PRICE: DVD $29.95
BONUSES: featurettes, deleted scenes, blooper reel
SPECS: NR | 97 min. | Foreign-language comedy adventure | 2.35:1 widescreen | Dolby Digital stereo | French with English subtitles

RATINGS (out of 5): Movie  | Audio  | Video  | Overall

OSS 117: Lost in Rio stars French comedy sensation Jean Dujardin as the ever-absurd secret agent OSS 117 in a sequel to the 2006 satirical spy spoof OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies.

Inspired by the novels of Jean Bruce, France’s line of seven OSS 117 spy films date from the late 1950s through the early 1970s (that’s right — they pre-date the 007 films). But while Nest of Spies took place in the mid-1950s, Lost in Rio plants our hero, Hubert Bonisseur De La Bath (aka Agent OSS 117), firmly in James Bond/Austin Powers territory by setting the adventure in 1967.

This time around, OSS 117’s mission finds him partnering with a sexy Israeli Mossad agent (Louise Monot) and traveling to swinging Rio de Janeiro to track down a roll of elusive microfilm and capture a high-ranking Nazi officer (Rüdiger Vogler), who has gone into exile in Brazil.

Written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius (who also handled the chores on the original), OSS 117: Lost in Rio has a lot of loving fun sending up 1960s spy thrillers.  Embellished with such delicious of-the-era flourishes as colorful jet-set locales, split-screen cinematography, a Bossa Nova-flavored retro score and state-of-the-decade fashions.

Of course, there’re also a bunch of overwrought gunfights and chase scenes — one that’s insanely set on Rio’s famed Corcovado Christ statue — not to mention a gaggle of giggling gals and a healthy dollop of cleavage, courtesy of rising starlet Reem Kherici as a deliciously evil seductress.

The film’s political incorrectness — off-color references about Jews, blacks, women and so on — is all part of the fun, if you can believe that. But would you expect anything less from a secret agent who takes his cues from Matt Helm, Inspector Clouseau and Maxwell Smart?

Happily, there’s more fun on the DVD with a blooper reel, deleted scenes and featurettes that go behind the scenes of the movie’s making.

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