OSS 117: Cairo - Nest Of Spies (PG)

This loving spoof of French 007 counterpart Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, based on the OSS-117 series that actually pre-dated Bond (films and books), risks being a joke very few would get. But its on-target mock-up of the ’60s espionage aesthetic should raise chuckles with anyone with a fondness for the Connery years, and resuscitate interest in the originals.

The plot sees our eyebrow-raising hero (a deadpan turn by Jean Dujardin, swinging between Cary Grant suaveness and Leslie Nielsen tomfoolery) sent to Cairo’s titular ‘nest of spies’ in search of a missing agent. Despite a number of hilarious set-pieces, the stupidity never spoils the intrigue and by playing the pastiche game better than Austin Powers, this is an unexpected pleasure.

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