My Spy Review

"My Spy" is the kind of movie where the plot is effectively told within the first few seconds of its trailer, the kind of "fish out of water" tale that Hollywood loves to fit bulging men into. It's everything you're expecting when you select a movie like this to wash away two hours of your quarantined life, only more. The "more" can't be traced to any one element, whether its the writing by Jon and Erich Hoeber, direction by veteran Peter Segal, or our ex-WWE star Dave Bautista, but whatever magic potion they used here shows on screen, and shows on our faces as we smile for nearly its entire runtime.

Dave stars as JJ, a personalityless "tough-guy" CIA agent who's career is on shaky grounds after a mission gone awry. Partnered up with an eager tech-wizard Bobbi (an infectious Kristen Schaal), the two are sent to Chicago for surveillance on single-mother Kate (Parisa Fitz-Henley), so that JJ can open up and fall in love.

Actually, they're there since her late husband was involved in nefarious nuclear hijinks, but let's be honest, the ending is telegraphed the second we learn she's a single parent. Only it's more complicated, as Kate's daughter Sophie (a very spunky Chloe Coleman, who shows promise of a great career), quickly discovers one of the hidden cameras in their apartment. She's fast to film the two agents spying on them, using it as blackmail to get her way. (You know, the usual stuff, getting help from bullies, becoming popular, setting JJ up with her mom, and oh yeah, becoming a spy herself.)

The film gets a lot of comedic mileage from these scenes, a showcase of child empowerment as we see Sophie grow out of her shell, and from Dave as JJ, who's character not only grows out of his in the script, but also as an actor. Here he is more than simply tattoos and biceps, although the two are featured prominently here as well. A familiar comedy where the muscle bound star acts as the straight face to all the mayhem, caricatures, and unfairness viewed through a kid's lens, there are few films in recent memory which nail the tone this effortlessly.

Of course, material like this isn't going to win any awards, but it's heart is very much in the right place (wearing its inspirations not only on its sleeves but also its pants legs), and you walk away with a feeling of warmth the world needs right now.

It would be wrong not to mention its PG-13 rating, a fact condemned by some critics, specifically the violence and swearing. They're right, there is violence and swearing here. Those critics must also have forgotten the point of the works by the likes of John Hughes or Chris Columbus, or any such film from the 80's or 90's; just because we have a happy ending doesn't mean we can't have a few bumps along the way. Think of it this way, we could've ended up with something like "Nine Lives." You may now take a sigh of relief.

*Note to readers: I very much was indifferent towards "Nine Lives," but that does't mean I can't make fun of it.