I Spy (2002)

A professional athlete has to help a U.S. government agent recover a missing jet.

Director:

Betty Thomas

Writers:

Morton S. Fine (characters), David Friedkin (characters),

Stars:

Eddie Murphy, Owen Wilson, Famke Janssen

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eddie Murphy	...	Kelly
Owen Wilson	...	Alex
Famke Janssen	...	Rachel
Malcolm McDowell	...	Gundars
Gary Cole	...	Carlos
Phill Lewis	...	Jerry
Viv Leacock	...	T.J.
Keith Dallas	...	Lunchbox
Tate Taylor	...	Lieutenant Percy
Lynda Boyd	...	Edna
Bill Mondy	...	McIntyre
Larry Merchant	...	Vegas Commentator
Sugar Ray Leonard	...	Vegas Commentator
Jimmy Lennon Jr.	...	Vegas Ring Announcer
Joe Cortez	...	Vegas Referee

Storyline

When the Switchblade, the most sophisticated prototype stealth fighter created yet, is stolen from the U.S. government, one of the United States' top spies, Alex Scott, is called to action. What he doesn't expect is to get teamed up with a cocky civilian, World Class Boxing Champion Kelly Robinson, on a dangerous top secret espionage mission. Their assignment: using equal parts skill and humor, catch Arnold Gundars, one of the world's most successful illegal arms dealers, and foil his treacherous plans for the plane.

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Plot Keywords:

stealth | spy | espionage | top secret | boxer | 

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Taglines:

Attitude meets espionage

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for action violence, some sexual content and language

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures - storyline and trailers

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hungarian Russian

Release Date:

1 November 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

I-Spy

Filming Locations:

Buda Castle, Várkerület, Budapest, Hungary

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$172,077 (Japan) (25 April 2003)

Gross:

$172,077 (Japan) (25 April 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Tall Trees Productions, C-2 Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the request of Director Betty Thomas, Actor Darren Shahlavi lost 30 pounds to be the same size as Eddie Murphy in the boxing scenes.

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Goofs

Towards the end of the movie, where Alex is on the bridge and uses his watch to activate the audio/visual using feed on Kelly, Kelly is shown with his left eye closed at first, but before he steps out of the ring, he has his right eye closed, even though the visual feed is only on one side.

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Quotes

Kelly: I'm 57 and 0 baby.

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Connections

Featured in I Spy: Cloak & Camouflage (2003)

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Soundtracks

"Full Mode"
Written by Noreaga (as Victor Santiago), Pharrell Williams (as Pharrell L. Williams) and Capone (as Kiam Holley)
Performed by Noreaga (as N.O.R.E.) and Capone
Courtesy of Def Jam Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

An unfairly bashed, but still routine pop action/comedy.

We all know Eddie Murphy's classic scene in "48 Hours" when he sings The Police's "Roxanne" off key. Now about 20 years after, in this movie he sings Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" on key! While the scene he did so in "I Spy" was amusing, it was not what the 48 Hrs scene was. So let's face facts, Eddie ain't what he used to be.

He once again parodies himself in a role, albeit in a lesser way than in "Bowfinger" and "Showtime". I don't care much for Owen Wilson, but he actually plays off Eddie well as a straight man. The two have decent on-screen chemistry. If this movie did a little more business, these two could talk sequel.

As for the movie, there are actually funny scenes, where Wilson's character Alex is given second-hand spy gadgets; Kelly Robinson teases his boxing opponent in a pre-fight; a plane dive to coerce Kelly into working. Plenty to go around. The action scenes are not bad, with the exception of the silly balloon sequence. That part should have been rewritten. And of course, I cannot neglect Famke Jannsen in her underwear.

It would have been better if "I Spy" had copied the more serious, realistic and dramatic TV series of the same name. Alas, it is much like soda, acceptable only because the vastly superior "48 Hrs" exists to wash its pasty aftertaste out of our mouths.