Kunis. Mila Kunis. It doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as Bond. James Bond. Then again, The Spy Who Dumped Me doesn’t have Jaws in it. However, this spoof does have a Roger Moore look-a-like in Sam Heughan. You may remember him as Jamie Fraser in the Starz series Outlander. (It’s quite good if you haven’t seen it.) Do not worry, this is not the same plot as The Spy Who Loved Me. Being spy weekend, along with Mission: Impossible – Fallout, you do get the obligatory car chases, double-crosses, and bad guy shoot-em-ups.
This is not a great movie, but it is just silly enough, and Kunis and Kate McKinnon are likable enough, that it might have a Bad Moms life to it. That Kunis film cost $22 million and made $184 million. (Bad Moms 2 -$28 million cost, earned $131 million.) I give it 3 Gavels. Due to an August 3 release date, it currently has only seven reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with a 29% rating.
Plot
Drew Thayer has dumped Audrey, left his stuff in her apartment, and won’t return her calls. At Audrey’s birthday party, best friend Morgan convinces her that the best way to get over him is to burn those items. CIA and MI6 operatives interrogate Audrey. They tell her that Drew is a CIA agent and in danger. Drew returns to Audrey’s apartment and is assassinated. In his last breath, he tells her to take a “trophy” to Vienna to save the world. In true spy fashion, she must trust no one. Audrey and Morgan enter the international world of spies.
Actors
Mila Kunis is Audrey. Did you know that Mila Kunis was voted The Sexiest Woman Alive in 2012? The male half of your relationship did. I digress. Kate McKinnon is Morgan. While Kate has that wild-eyed, physical form of humor, Mila’s is more subtle, a more roll-your-eyes type. They make a good team in this girl-buddy flick. Drew Thayer is played by Justin Theroux; I thought miscast here. Mysterious maybe, but definitely not spy material. On the other hand, Sam Heughan, as Sebastion Henshaw, was spot on. Roger Moore would have been proud! Gillian Anderson (X-Files) has a small part as a CIA boss. Similarly, Jane Curtin and Paul Reiser have small, but fun, parts as Audrey’s parents.
Final Thoughts
This movie gets off to a slow start but picks up once they reach Austria. Like most recent girl-buddy movies, there are way too many references to genitalia, male and female. It’s rated R for a reason. Like Mamma Mia 2, the audience was mostly female at the showing I attended. At first, there are few nervous giggles. Midway though the movie, the audience inhibitions are gone. At times, Kate McKinnon just tries too hard, like she is back on Saturday Night Live. At other times, she is brilliant. I think Kunis and McKinnon have better chemistry than did Kunis and Kristin Bell in Bad Moms. Overall, with a little better writing, this movie might have made some waves. Of course, the same can be said of most movies.