It needs to be said right off the bat that this is less than perfect, and while its faults are less prominent as the length draws on, they are the first facets of the picture to catch one's attention. Early exposition is rather inelegant, and I think the plot is genuinely more complicated than it needs to be; the extra layer of orchestration to the protagonist's mission makes the story a tad unwieldy. As if to emphasize the point, I read the premise for the film in a few different places and had a hard time making sense of what the contributor was trying to communicate, but it turns out it's not so much a problem with any user's literacy but a basic matter of trying to elucidate a needlessly overdone plot. Speaking of overdone, there's a lot of rather tawdry embellishment here at various points, be it footage that's sped up, cartoonish sound effects or music cues, exaggerated laughter (at least some instances of the latter being inserted in post-production), transitions or camerawork with an overly playful flourish, or a few gags that are absurd beyond the tone this otherwise carries itself with. This is a bit inconsistent generally where tone is concerned, adopting earnest, serious thriller airs at select times, significantly clashing with what is otherwise a frivolous, lighthearted romp. Setting aside the indelicacy of the outdated ableist language in the name of the feature, the character to whom that name refers is written a little inconsistently, too. And, dovetailing back into the construction of the narrative - even with all the cleverness that the movie can rightly claim through to the end, this feels longer than it is. Surely some of the writing could have been trimmed without meaningfully losing anything.
All this is the bad news, or at least those issues that place distinct upper limits on how enjoyable this might be. The good news is that more than not 'Une ravissante idiote,' also known as 'Agent 38-24-36,' is sufficiently smart and entertaining that its value well outweighs its disadvantages; it's imperfect, but ultimately I definitely like it. In fairness, those notable convolutions of the writing are intentional, somewhat spoofing spy flicks; that this goes a smidgen overboard, well, that's the risk of such material. Broadly speaking the story is fun and engaging, and sharp scene writing carries most of the weight not just in communicating that story but more importantly, in providing the comedy. There's no single stroke of brilliance here, and the end result is more lightly amusing than robustly funny, but still the sight gags, situational humor, and witty dialogue are more than suitable to give us a good time. The cast sure seem to be having a ball with the silliness of the scenario, not least Grégoire Aslan, Hélène Dieudonné, and chief star Anthony Perkins; given more license to ham it up on account of how Penelope is written, Brigitte Bardot stands out even more. Elsewhere, even if I disagree with the choices that were made or pointedly think they detract from the whole, everyone behind the scenes turned in good work. Édouard Molinaro deftly manages a film with so many moving parts in his direction; Andréas Winding's cinematography is more shrewd and mindful than not. The costume design, hair, makeup, and sets are pretty fantastic, and though more sparing in this instance, any stunts and effects come off well.
That 'Une ravissante idiote' is saddled with so many troubles is unfortunate, because they do serve to diminish the viewing experience in some measure. Be that as it may, it only wants its audience to have enjoy themselves, and though flawed, this is more than strong enough to achieve that goal. The plot could have been simplified a bit and impulses reined in, yet even as we see it the picture is a minor delight, and plentifully satisfying. I don't think there's any need to go out of your way for it, but if you do have the opportunity to watch, it's a decent way to spend a couple hours.
