OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies.

I don't usually consider such a crass notion as "marketing" when I sit down to pour out my thoughts about a new movie. Isn't it "the thing itself" that should concern us critics? However, since viewing this "thing itself," OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, a question has lodged in my brain and will not go away: What are they thinking, importing a film like this to the US? I can fully understand a French audience going ga-ga for the movie. But Americans? Even the art house crowd? We shall see.

Where to start? That felicitous, marquee-hogging title? The setting: Egypt 1955? (You just know how familiar most Americans below the age of 60 will be with that time and place.) WWII still has a certain draw and cachet, but Nasser and the Suez? Now we get to the good part: Exactly what type of movie is OSS 117?

Updated through 5/16.

Well, it's a sort of comedy spoof, but one in which many of the attitudes and relationships, early on, may need footnotes for the audience to follow. (The press kit, I kid you not, contains 20 pages of explanatory material, much of it fascinating - almost more so than the film itself). OSS 117 is also a kind of a spy thriller / mystery / chase movie, except that the aforementioned comedy effectively renders limp all the would-be thrills. Imagine 007 - in classic Connery, rather than nouveau Craig, mode - as an egotistical, utterly sure of himself yet dumb-as-they-come secret agent, and you begin to get a glimpse of what's in store.

So why is this movie coming to America? Maybe to rope in aficionados of dumb-spy spoofs six weeks prior to the opening of Get Smart. Or possibly to allow Americans to wallow in good old-fashioned Muslim baiting/hating while this sort of thing remains du jour. (To be fair, the movie has it both ways by constantly showing how stupid and bigoted agent 117 is, while reminding us that not all Muslims are terrorists. Surprise!) What OSS 117 really provides, I think, is the chance for movie mavens who don't frequent France to finally learn what the fuss over lead actor Jean Dujardin is all about.

The 35-year-old Dujardin gained popularity around the turn of the millennium on French TV and then made an enormous splash as the star of the 2005 blockbuster Brice de Nice (still unseen in the US). Based on his performance in OSS 117, I would say this actor possesses just about everything necessary to become a major international star. A walking definition of "tall, dark and handsome," his face, like that of a Cary Grant or George Clooney, can as easily turn to the darker side as to the romantic (a necessity for any glamorous leading man). His body's a good match for that face: lean, smooth, muscular and appealing. Best of all, perhaps - for a long-running career - is his sense of comedy. He knows how to use his many and obvious attributes in the service of a deadpan comedic style that makes sly fun of those very attributes.

Our "hero" is nicely abetted by his leading lady, Bérénice Bejo, a petite, pretty actress with enough wit, sass and reticence to stand up to the Dujardin juggernaut. The rest of the cast is able, but Michel Hazanavicius's direction is generally pedestrian. His timing seems just "off" enough that his actors often appear slightly adrift. Hazanavicius also gifts his audience with far too many repetitive moments during which to murmur, "We get it, now get on with it."

Nominated for a number of Cesar awards (including Best Actor), the movie won only one: for its fabulous production design (by Maamar Ech-Cheikh) which recalls not just those silly spy movies from the 60s but also manages to recreate a surprisingly real-looking Egypt of that era. I suspect that a good understanding of the French language will increase one's appreciation of the humor and subtleties because, though the movie also garnered a Best Screenplay nomination, the sub-titles may not give you enough ammunition to understand why.

OSS 117 tosses bouquets at Hitchcock (you'll see a wonderful recreation of a North by Northwest moment), makes fun (a bit too often) of the "missing my dead buddy" trope (before giving it a wry twist toward the finale), and generally offers enough enjoyment along the way to make the trip worthwhile, particularly for movie buffs. But I do wonder how America is going take to this mildly interesting, gently humorous time warp. Variety often reminds us that American comedies generally do not travel well; I suspect the reverse is just as true (or we'd have seen Brice de Nice by now). No matter. As I write this, Dujardin and crew are busy filming the next in the series, OSS 117: Rio ne repond plus, for a 2009 release. Bonne chance!

- James Van Maanen

"From the country that brought you Godard and Resnais! ... Children of Paradise and Grand Illusion! ... Sartre and Genet! ... comes OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies! - which may just be the silliest movie I've ever seen," writes Andy Klein in the LA CityBeat. "I mean that in the best way: Frankly, they had me at the title."

"[T]he film makes joyous nonsense out of bad matte paintings, obvious miniature effects, unsubtle sexual innuendo, and a lead actor who plays the role to clueless, arched-eyebrow perfection," writes Scott Foundas in the Voice. "And whatever you do, don't forget the secret code words: 'How is your veal stew?'"

"Do you wish that the Austin Powers movies were not, you know, quite so stupid?" Salon's Andrew O'Hehir recommends OSS 117, praises Dujardin's performance and notes, "Given that this is a French film, there's an unmistakable edge to its satirical portrayal of postwar East-West relations."

"[E]ven as a self-consciously anachronistic knockabout farce it rarely rises to the level of wit, either verbal or physical, manifested by the old Get Smart series," writes AO Scott in the New York Times.

"With the possible exception of Casino Royale, the James Bond movies, vile as most of them are, may be seen as parodies of themselves, and until someone figures out a way of truly subverting what's already been subverted, cartoon stick figures like Austin Powers and Johnny English will never feel fresh, even when they're actually saying funny things," argues Ed Gonzalez in Slant.

"OSS 117 is every inch a loving recreation of the films it is looking back on," counters Todd Brown at Twitch. "Rather than make fun of a genre everyone involved here clearly loves - and loves dearly - they have instead brought a popular literary character, equal parts Connery-era Bond and Sellers Pink Panther antics, to the screen in an astonishingly note perfect recreation of the films of the era. If not for the satiric edge laced throughout the film's plot - a savage knock on western meddling in and ignorance of middle eastern affairs - this could easily be a lost treasure of the 70s."

Update, 5/16: "Nest of Spies may be a small, subtitled release, but it's also a gauntlet thrown at the feet of the upcoming big-screen adaptation of Get Smart," writes the Oregonian's Shawn Levy. "See it and you'll have a substantial idea of what a spy comedy should be."

Posted by dwhudson at May 10, 2008 1:22 PM