Film

The Jackpot!

Name: The Jackpot!
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Released: 1991
Cast: Thierry Lhermitte, Miou-Miou, Eddy Mitchell, Michel Boujenah, Hélène Zidi

Spy action
Light-hearted

A 1991 French comedy about a bored civil servant whose secret life as a spy is exposed when his family discovers the truth. It's a charming, lightweight adventure film that mines humor from the collision between suburban mundanity and espionage thrills. Perfect if you want something entertaining that doesn't demand much but rewards a generous mood.

TMDb rating

2.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy a light, breezy caper built on a mild-mannered hero juggling two lives, where the pleasure lies in small comic reversals and an easy Gallic charm rather than in high-stakes thrills.

Skip it if you need sharp pacing or a tightly plotted thriller; this one is loose and amiable, and its jokes and gags can feel slight when you want the story to snap along.

What it asks of you: Little more than an easy hour and forty minutes of attention, with a relaxed rhythm and a comedic tone that stays bright and undemanding throughout.

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If you liked this

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Subway1985

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The Bourne Identity2002

When spy comedies want to have their cake and eat it, they're riffing on this: an amnesiac agent on the run, competent and dangerous, but the film is genuinely tense. The template for modern spies who are smart and exhausted.

But It's entirely serious, which means it won't have the fizz of The Jackpot!. Grinding paranoia instead of laughs.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Jackpot!

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

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Casino Royale2006

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But It takes itself seriously, which means none of the giddy absurdity of lighter spy comedies. Nearly three hours.

The Sting1973

Two con artists orchestrating an elaborate revenge scheme in Depression-era Chicago. Charm, period detail, Newman and Redford, and a third-act twist that rewires everything.

But It's been endlessly imitated, so it feels familiar now. The pacing is deliberate—nothing like modern thrillers.

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies2006

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But The humor is very specific to spy movie tropes. If you haven't seen the films it's mocking, much of it will miss.

Notorious1946

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But It's serious and psychologically dark. Nothing like a romp, and the gender politics will occasionally sting.

Tampopo1985

Both are comedies from the 1980s that value mood and character over plot, and both find joy in the everyday made strange by circumstance.

A Japanese comedy about a widow trying to perfect her ramen recipe, told as a series of absurdist vignettes. Bewildering, joyful, and unlike anything else. It has the same spirit of shaggy adventure and the same refusal to be serious about anything.

But It's anarchic and plotless. The humor is surreal and sometimes gross. You have to surrender to it entirely or it will feel like nonsense.