Trafic

1971 French comedy

Rating: 14/20

Plot: Mr. Hulot is traveling to Amsterdam with a couple associates to show off a funky recreational vehicle at a gigantic car show. Unfortunately for him, trafic [sic] jams, accidents, the po-po, and general silliness get in his way. How do you say "Oh, snap!" in French?

Tati's last film isn't his best film, but it definitely has its share of zany, entertaining moments. So much of the movie lags, and whereas those lags generally build up to something great in Playtime, they often go nowhere at all here. At time, this moves as quickly as the trafic [sic] jams Hulot finds himself in. The final shot is great, and there are lots of other slowly-unfolding bits of brilliance. One complaint would be that there's just too much talking in this. As expected, not a lot to laugh out loud at, but there's still enough sweetly entertaining here to make it well worth seeing. On par with Mon Oncle if not as brilliant as Playtime or M. Hulot's Holiday.