by Conan Simmons – November 22, 2020 – 5:24 am
One of the few good movies released in 2020 is this entertaining family film starring Dave Bautista who has made a name for himself in recent years playing fan favorite characters in big budget action films from Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ to the 007 adventure ‘Spectre’.
In ‘My Spy’ he plays JJ, an over confidant secret agent who manages to survive even while bungling undercover jobs. As a sort of punishment his next assignment is to keep watch over a woman and her young daughter in case their international criminal relative decides to visit. Assisting JJ on this none-too-dangerous mission is tech supporting aspiring spy, Bobbi (Kristen Schaal).
They are quickly found out by the daughter, Sophie (played by Chloe Coleman) who blackmails JJ into being her friend. This results in the expected humorous situations such as Sophie taking JJ to show-and-tell at her school and ice skating in the park. Of course, romantic sparks fly when JJ meets Sophie’s mother, Kate (Parisa Fitz-Henley).
‘My Spy’ is carried by the charisma of the lead actors and the direction of Peter Segal, comedic director known for ‘Tommy Boy’ and ‘Nutty Professor II: The Klumps’. The action is never too intense and the humor never gets into being strictly for kids, it is often funnier than one expects. Ken Jeong costars as the spy boss who sidelines Dave Bautista.
While not moving the genre of family films forward by any means, ‘My Spy’ is a solid and entertaining entry into a genre that too often plays it safe. ‘My Spy’ is edgier than you might expect and worth seeing, especially in this year of anemic cinema.