Reminiscent of Kindergarten Cop, with a dash of Spy Kids, The Spy Next Door blends together an entertaining mixture of family fun and martial-arts comedy styling to form a familiar story that once again reminds us that even hardened action heroes have a soft side. Jackie Chan stars as Bob Ho, an international spy on loan to the CIA who gives up his job in hopes of leading a so-called normal life with his next-door-neighbor girlfriend and her rambunctious brood. There's nothing in Spy that the audience hasn't seen before from similarly themed incarnations think The Pacifier, but, fans will appreciate director Brian Levant's homage to Jackie Chan's past Hong Kong movie blockbustersmost notably, Police Story and The Legend of Drunken Masterduring the opening credit sequence, which is fitting considering many of the action sequences are derivative of those films. The main story centers on Bob's relationship with artsy single mom Gillian Amber Valletta and her three kids: precocious teenage stepdaughter Farren Madeline Carroll, nerdy middle child Ian Will Shadley, and adorably energetic Nora Alina Foley. After an emergency sends Gillian away to Denver, Bob steps up and offers to watch the kids while she's gone. Ill-equipped to handle a situation that's clearly over his head, Bob utilizes his spy skills and gadgetsvideo watch, GPS tracking, x-ray glassesto gain control over the situation in hopes of winning over the kid's affection, but when an old enemy escapes from prison and threatens his potential family, Bob must return to his 007 world of international espionage to protect them. Admittedly, there's a certain level of cheese in this film, especially when it comes to the Boris-and-Natasha-style villains, Poldark Magnús Scheving and Creel Katherine Boecher, whose silly Russian stereotyped performances and running joke about American fashion unabashedly border on cringe-worthy territory. Not to mention, the thinly plotted storyline involving brainiac Ian, who accidentally downloads a top-secret formula for oil-eating ooze created by the bad guys, which propels the main action of the film. Adding to the pile are the supporting cast members: George Lopez as the traitorous CIA agent, Glaze, and Billy Ray Cyrus as CIA agent and Bob's BFF Colton James, who lends folksy witticisms like "As gone as rum cake at an AA meeting. Even so, Chan's charm wins out in the end, and The Spy Next Door's most effective sequences involve Bob's attempts to bond with
| Languages: | English, French |
| Country: | CAN |
| Runtime: | 94 min. |
| Number of discs: | 1 |
| Subtitles: | English |
