My Spy
Originally slated to open in August 2019, then pushed to March 2020, the seemingly troubled My Spy also had the disadvantage of a thoroughly unfunny trailer that suggested Dave Bautista was following Dwayne Johnson’s dopey family-friendly blueprint and adding his own The Game Plan or Tooth Fairy to his resumé.
But as is sometimes the case, the actual film is exceedingly better than its misleading marketing campaign would lead us to believe, thanks to a zippy script that harnesses Bautista's deadpan charms and a stellar child performance by Chloe Coleman (Big Little Lies).
Laughs are earned early and often, beginning with a sharply choreographed plutonium sale at Chernobyl that devolves into a shootout, then a car chase, during which Special Forces soldier-turned-CIA agent JJ (Bautista) is disgusted by the bad Russian covers of U.S. pop hits on his purloined Range Rover’s radio.
The sequence nicely sets the tone for JJ’s impressive skillset, coolness under pressure, and ability to crack wise — assets that appear in jeopardy when he’s punished by his boss Kim (Ken Jeong) for not completing the mission and sent to Chicago with tech specialist Bobbi (a hilariously starstruck Kristen Schaal) to surveil Kate (Parisa Fitz-Henley, Fantasy Island) in case her bomb-happy brother-in-law Victor (Greg Bryk, Ad Astra) attempts to make contact.
Following some silly slapstick involving JJ and Kate’s tiny dog, the agents’ operation is busted by their mark’s precocious yet friendless 9-year-old daughter, Sophie (Coleman), who blackmails JJ into being her substitute parent while her mom is busy at the hospital.
The odd couple quickly fall into a winning comedic rapport, bolstered by zingers galore from screenwriter brothers Erich and Jon Hoeber, who at long last gave Jason Statham an action/comedy worthy of his particular brand of meatheadedness in last summer’s The Meg, and similarly suit My Spy to fit Bautista’s strengths.
Copious humor comes at the expense of the former wrestler’s gargantuan size and JJ’s hyperbolic — and hyper-violent — suggested solutions to problems, rooted in his military experiences. Every bit his equal, Coleman has charisma to spare, and as Sophie manipulates JJ into training her as a spy, wittily preying on his pride, their fun dynamic evolves into that of unlikely peers where their age difference and physical discrepancies keep their adventures delightfully goofy.
Along the way, they brilliantly discuss the art of delivering insults in the heat of battle and lampoon a few action movie clichés, Pain & Gain style, while Sophie’s intelligence and fast-thinking leave JJ equal parts impressed, flummoxed, and offended, responses further elevated by top-notch reaction shots from Bautista.
Operating on such a high comedic level, the chemistry-rich duo make the boilerplate villain subplot feel almost unnecessary as it means less screen time for our heroes, though it does give rise to a truly surprising twist.
In turn, director Peter Segal (Tommy Boy; My Fellow Americans) has his first decent film in decades — and all it took was pairing Drax the Destroyer with a little girl.
Grade: B-plus. Rated PG-13. Available to stream via Amazon Video
(Photo: Amazon Studios)
