2006, France
Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Romance
Bath. Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath. Director Michel Hazanavicius hits the mark with OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, a French spy spoof that gets out of the gates before Get Smart has time to trip over its own laces.
Based on the prolific author Jean Bruce's secret agent, Bath -- a.k.a. OSS 117 -- sees a revival in the 21st century, though his feet are firmly planted mid-century. As is his style and his horrendous ignorance of other cultures ("To our colonial empire," he toasts), which only adds to the chaos that he was sent to snuff out.
When assigned to Egypt to unearth the plans of religious extremists while passing out cards of his beloved President René Coty, his boss requests that he make the Middle East safe. "No problem," he replies confidently with a gleam in his eye. Politics is just that easy, and hopefully so are the women.
Jean Dujardin's slicked back hair and smarmy smile produce dead-on Sean Connery-era Bond moments, though in reality Bruce's character came before Fleming's. He seduces the bad girls, but memories of frolicking on the beach with an old partner imply that he may be a double agent in the bedroom. Good thing the swingin' Sixties are just around the corner.
Viewing a classy undercover world through a global lens, condescending jabs backfire on the jokester. Feeling he is behaving boorishly, a woman notes, "You're very French," to which he gladly accepts what he construes as a compliment. Comedy continues to take a lesson from Mel Brooks when Bath is given the cover story that he works for the Society of Chicken and Egyptian Poultry. Fellows spies represent the Society of Belgian and Egyptian Poultry Producers, British Lamb Consortium and an unnamed sheep organization. Feeling clever, they attempt to exchange an excessive amount of cliché metaphors with their gentlemen adversaries as they play out the charade.
Bath has the moves, he has the look, but he does not have the brains to put together the most obvious of clues. Fortunately he has been provided with a girl Friday to shove him in the right direction. While repeating her deductions and immediately taking credit, Bath takes his place next to other accidental goofball spies who manage to save the day despite themselves. Between the code phrases, foes around every corner and jazzy fights complete with judo chops, the story falls into familiar satire territory but remains fresh enough to stay funny. Hopefully the stupidly suave recipe will continue to cook in the rumored sequel, OSS 117: Rio Does Not Answer Anymore.