The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018) * *

Directed by:  Susanna Fogel

Starring:  Mila Kunis, Kate McKinnon, Gillian Anderson, Justin Theroux, Sam Heughan, Jane Curtin, Paul Reiser

The Spy Who Dumped Me gives us two likable comic actresses and unfairly asks them to carry the day without much else to support them.    The movie isn't bad as much as forgettable.    It has been just over 24 hours since the movie ended and I can provide the basic plot and not much else.    I'm sure there were a couple of chuckles, but I would be hard pressed to recall them.    No matter, Kate McKinnon is a virtuoso and Kunis plays it straight; serving up the gags for McKinnon to knock out of the park.   In this case, maybe fly balls to shallow center.

Kunis is Audrey, the "me" of the title whose boyfriend Drew (Theroux) dumps her over a curt text.  She and her best friend Morgan (McKinnon) soon find out Drew is actually a spy, which to Audrey's semi-relief at least explains the quick kicking to the curb.    For reasons typical to spy movies, Audrey and Morgan find themselves traipsing all over Europe (they must have plenty of free time) trying to outwit assassins and retrieve a flash drive containing some sort of program which will hack into everyone's bank account or private servers.    Or something like that. 

We have double crosses, chases, shootouts, fist fights, and ironic jokes; none of which differentiate themselves from Bond films or Jason Bourne movies.    The Spy Who Dumped Me feels more or less like the real thing.    Oh, one of the gags is Morgan's last name, which is Freeman, and I imagine the screenwriters cracked themselves up over that one.    You know a comedy is in trouble when it resorts to trying to milk laughs out of names.    Of course, there are exceptions, like Fletch.

The Spy Who Dumped Me runs nearly two hours, but runs out of gas long before.    The actors try to infuse energy into the limp material and deserve for credit for trying, but the movie is all concept and movie title with minimal comedy or thrills.    Does it want to be a comedy?  An action movie?  A parody?   I'm not sure it even knows.