As a cinephile from the 21st century, one probably discovers the existence of this film as a fan of the cult classic "Les Visiteurs", made by Jean-Marie Poiré, with Clavier and Reno and Lemercier as the main core. The prospect of learning about a comedy with that exact cast just two years prior is quite exciting news, even with only average expectations. What happens in this one is that despite being overall fairly impressive looking and well directed, there's a bit too much going on with the intricacies of the story; which aren't even that interesting; with too little reward for the viewer at the end. The consumer may be fed a bit of a convoluted story, and accept paying close attention to it, if only it is worth it in the end. But demanding too much focus from the viewer, just to sustain its complicated plight for existence as a crime/comedy doesn't cut it. There's a couple of funny scenes, all in typical Poiré fashion and his signature is unmistakable, and there's a certain personality to the film with its comical characters, but many scenes will come across as long-winded or simply a bit on the hollow side.

The difference between this and the following 'Les Visiteurs' is quite night and day in terms of pace, fullness and relevance in the story, impact in the comedy and overall movie making craft. This is a bit of fun, a few quirky lines in the dialogue as always, and it's always a bit of a treat to watch these actors during their primes in the early 90's, but it probably can't fully justify its 1h45min length.

The same crew, the same cast but a different film than Les Visiteurs. And almost as fun. Jean Reno is excellent when it comes to expressing suppressed rage, and in this film he is almost constantly mad. Hilarious - especially when he backs his car off the back of a trailer....

There's no shortage of spy comedies; in fact the whole genre of spy movies (even serious ones) is constantly in danger of slipping into spoof territory. So, making a spy comedy that's "different" or refreshing in any way is not easy - yet "Operation Corned Beef" succeeds, It does so by going a different route - here, we have no silly technical gadgets, we don't have a megalomanic villain, we have neither an army of martial arts experts nor nubile young women - the comedy centers on the simple fact that even agents have a private life, and from there on hilarity ensues. While all proceedings seem rather by-the-book, the intrusion of everyday life makes even simple tasks like bugging a conversation or removing a bystander from an important scene a sysiphosian task. Highly recommended!