Directed by: Peter Segal
Starring: Dave Bautista, Kristen Schaal, Chloe Coleman, Ken Jeong, Parisa Fitz-Henley
There isn't anything about My Spy that isn't telegraphed in the trailer, so it doesn't earn any points for originality. However, the movie nearly overcomes its predictability with some inspired performances and some cute laughs. Bautista (formerly of WWE and lately of Stuber and Guardians of the Galaxy) displays more comic gifts by not trying too hard to be funny. He's an ideal straight man whom comic situations can revolve around, and doesn't mind being the butt of the joke.
Bautista is CIA agent JJ, who kicks a lot of ass during the opening scenes in a sting operation gone haywire. JJ destroys things, but doesn't achieve his objective of capturing the bad guy.
JJ returns home and is saddled with a safer assignment. He and his new partner, the inexperienced, but enthusiastic Bobbi (Schaal), are to perform surveillance on a Chicago nurse and her nine-year-old daughter. Why? Because the baddie is the former brother-in-law of the nurse, and she may be unwittingly hiding an important flash drive. Flash drives are the go-to item spies are chasing after all over the globe these days. Memo to bad guys: copy whatever is on the flash drive fifty times over if need be, so you don't have to harass such nice people over a tiny drive.
JJ's cover is blown rather quickly by the precocious nine-year-old Sophie (Coleman), who thinks it's cool that a spy has moved in next door. Rather than potentially losing his job because his cover was blown so easily, JJ agrees to mentor Sophie in the ways of spying, and accompany her to places her overworked mom can't, like an ice skating rink. Is JJ a good skater? No points for guessing no.
The introduction of Sophie to JJ's life is a mixed blessing. She wants to hook him up with her lonely mother, and the closed-off, quiet JJ has to learn how to communicate if he wants this blossoming romance to work. The bad guy is thankfully kept off screen during most of this.
Bautista and Coleman have sweet comic chemistry, which is the heart of My Spy. Once JJ learns to open up after being a spy for many years, he displays a quiet vulnerability which works. Coleman isn't an overly cute young girl, just a smart one who at times can outsmart her hulking new friend.
Their performances nearly elevate My Spy past its mundane story. Nearly.
No comments:
Post a Comment