I am firmly convinced that, given enough time, every television series made between 1960 and 1975 will be given a big-screen treatment. Considering the lack of quality attributed to most of these productions, this must surely be considered one of the signs of the Apocalypse.
The movie version of I Spy bears about as much resemblance to its TV inspiration as it does to its children’s game namesake. (”I spy with my little eye…”) The connections are not profound or numerous. Both feature black and white protagonists (this was a daring move in the 1960s; it’s commonplace today), a comedy-and-action mix, and a secret agent motif. However, it would be difficult to find a duo less similar to Bill Cosby and Robert Culp than Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson. So the use of the moniker is just a shameless case of employing nostalgia as a marketing device. Change the film’s title and the names of the protagonists, and not one critic in ten would mention the TV series.
As is sometimes (but not always) the case, the movie’s saving grace is Eddie Murphy, who is in top form. This is probably his best comedic performance since Bowfinger. The adrenaline is pumping and the outrageousness is dialed all the way up. Murphy is often funny, and occasionally hilarious. His Cyrano De Bergerac-inspired use of Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” is one of I Spy’s highlights. Owen Wilson, who isn’t a bad comedian in his own right, is content to play the straight man rather than compete with Murphy for the limelight.
However, after establishing that the movie is sporadically effective as a comedy, the other half of the “action/comedy” agenda has to be addressed, and that’s where this picture falls on its face. Not only are the action scenes in this movie dull and uninspired, they’re ineptly handled and badly filmed. Director Betty Thomas knows a thing or two about adapting TV series to the screen (The Brady Bunch Movie) and about satire (Private Parts), but she doesn’t have a clue when it comes to shoot-outs, explosions, and chases (even if they are handled tongue-in-cheek). Every time I Spy switches into its action mode, I felt like going to sleep. Thomas should have dialed down the secret agent stuff and increased the humorous banter between the lead characters. Play to the movie’s strengths, not its weaknesses.
I Spy has second-tier secret agent Alexander Scott (Wilson) teaming up with champion boxer Kelly Robinson (Murphy) to go undercover and capture Arnold Gundars (Malcolm McDowell), an international arms dealer who has stolen a top-secret, cutting edge stealth plane that he is planning to auction off to the highest bidder. In addition to the difficulties inherent in the mission, Alex has other issues to deal with, including an inability to confess his crush on a fellow spy (Famke Janssen) and an inferiority complex to a 007-type superagent named Carlos (Gary Cole). Plus, in true mismatched buddy-film style, Alex and Kelly don’t get along and spend much of the movie bickering.
Although Murphy’s comedy is the undisputed highlight of I Spy, there are some other clever bits, the best of which center around Alex’s belief that he is being passed over for all the newer, cutting-edge gadgets so those can be given to Carlos. (One scene has him comparing his own “mini-camera” – a large, clunky device – to Carlos’ slim, sleek piece of equipment.) Other attempts to lampoon the secret agent genre aren’t as successful. In the wake of Austin Powers and its ilk, that vein has been bled dry.
I will admit to being a little disappointed not seeing Cosby and Culp in at least cameo roles. (My guess is that they were offered the chance, but turned it down.) Their absence further distances the movie from the TV show. Maybe that was the intention. Either way, anyone going to see I Spy because of a lingering fondness for the film’s small-screen predecessor will discover a much different beast. I Spy is an unremarkable, modern action/comedy buddy movie whose only nod to nostalgia is in the title.
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