Jacques Tati is an acquired taste, and Trafic is one of his most minor works. One has to adjust to his rhythms, and after the failure of Playtime, the man was a bit exhausted. Still, like a talent in his receeding years, there is much to admire.

Tati resurrects his Mr. Hulot for his final go round. This time he’s a man who designs cars. He’s invented a new station wagon that is supposed to show at a Dutch auto show for his company Altra. He heads off with a truck with his new design in tow, and are lead by Maria (Maria Kimberly, would smash), an American who has no sense of the world around her. As they follow they have all sorts of troubles: they need repairs, they need gas, they get into a car pile up, they get stopped by the police, they need repairs again, all the while the car conference is going on.

Such suggests that there is a velocity to the plot, which is entirely lacking. Everyone goes about their business at a relaxed speed, and such leads to a montage of people picking their noses, people yawning, and a sequence where everyone at a gas station gets Grecian busts. Those used to jokes being shot at you SNL style will surely be a bit puzzled, but the light rhythms eventually reward the viewer, even if one sequence is not so much funny as the idea of something that could be funny (the dog death).

But, Tati at this point had fought the good fight and was tired. The film was under-budgeted and barely finished, and – though this is never apparent in the watching – the film does not build so much as plateau. And that’s fine. It reminds of the Kids in the Hall parody “Mr. Heavy Foot” of which this is very similar. Bully to both parties.

The Criterion Collection presents the film in full frame (1.33:1) and in 1.0 mono. Having never seen the film before, the transfer looks to be excellent, and the colors are excellent, as is the sharpness. But I don’t doubt the Criterion collection. Not for one second. On disc one is “Marceaux de bravoure” (14 min.) an interview with Tati from 1973 where he talks about comedy and the film at hand. Next up is the 1971 program “Le Journal du Cinema” (7 min.) which has much of the cast talk about the film, and then the film’s theatrical trailer. On disc two is the documentary “In the Footsteps of Mr. Hulot,” (51 min.) which was directed by Tati’s daughter, and is part biography, while also exploring the man and his art.