OSS 117 - Lost in Rio (2009)

There have now been two movies starring Jean Dujardin as the French spy OSS 117. The first film, Cairo: Nest of Spies, came out in 2006 and it was a fairly amusing 1960s spy spoof, more similar in tone to an early Pink Panther film than an Austin Powers. I liked it enough that I decided to check out the sequel, Lost in Rio, which I found a lot funnier than the original. Maybe I've just grown more enamored of Dujardin, who is a gifted and subtle comedian, but it was also just a better film. Like a lot of movies of its ilk some of the set-pieces grow pretty tired pretty fast but I can honestly say that alone in my office watching this on my laptop I guffawed out loud at least four times.

Another thing I love about these movies, both of them, is how flawlessly they have managed to recreate the look and feel of not just James Bond films, but Matt Helm films, and Derek Flynt films, and the whole '60s spy genre in general. And Dujardin has an uncanny physical knack of mimicking Sean Connery, especially the way he walks across the room. No easy task: that's a pretty great walk.

It's possible that Dujardin (and his costar from Cairo: Nest of Spies, the lovely Berenice Bejo (above)) might both become household names pretty soon. Their new film, a silent comedy called The Artist got rave reviews at Cannes. You heard it here first.