'Spy' is a weird but entertaining chick flick

Kate McKinnon and (Mila Kunis.Picture; Supplied

Kate McKinnon and (Mila Kunis.Picture; Supplied

Published Aug 17, 2018

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Think of a spy movie intertwined with lots of weirdly cute comedy. That is what awaits you in The Spy Who Dumped Me.

The plot is a bit of an oddball. It’s about a young woman, Audrey (Mila Kunis), who gets dumped via text by her charming boyfriend, Drew (Justin Theroux).

Shortly after being blindsided by the beau, she is kidnapped. Turns out that Drew is actually a secret agent and now she must complete a mission entrusted to him and ultimately save the world.

Shew. What a mouthful.

Her best friend, Morgan (Kate Mckinnon), joins her in this adventure.

They go through the weirdest and wonderful experiences - like when they arrive in Vienna, Austria, where a package handover is due to happen, and the Uber driver is shot and killed. Audrey ends up in the lap of the hapless taxi driver who’s just suffered a bullet through his head, driving the runaway vehicle.

The film plots a pretty predictable route, with the punchlines coming right when you expect them. But it can’t decide what it wants to be, and seems constantly torn between the action and comedy genres. There’s a fair amount of gore, and it doesn’t always gel with the funny.

What I loved about it is the feminine tone of the film. All of us know the pain of being dumped, even if it’s after a relationship that wasn’t quite working out. In that sense, you certainly feel like you can relate to Audrey. 

And then something as weird as having to become a spy happens, which you know nothing about. The various little faux pas Audrey and Morgan make along the way make them very endearing characters.

I was also completely in love with the scenes between Morgan and Wendy (Gillian Anderson), the boss at MI6. Morgan develops a strong admiration for how completely bossy, yet feminine, Wendy is. 

This is something that female characters have had to fight tooth and nail for over the years: the right to be bad ass and feminine at the same time.

McKinnon as Morgan is the loveliest person to experience. She has this fascination with being a super spy, which is positively hilarious. My verdict is that McKinnon totally ruled the movie for me. Kunis was okay. 

By the end of the film, Kunis hooks up with good guy agent Sebastian Henshaw (Sam Heughan) and their desire to become spies is taken seriously.

The Spy Who Dumped Me is a chick flick you will want to take in with your best friend. Just be careful that the goofiness doesn’t overwhelm you.

IOL

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