Spies Like Us (1985)

Two bumbling government employees think they are U.S. spies, only to discover that they are actually decoys for Nuclear War.

Director:

John Landis

Writers:

Dan Aykroyd (story), Dave Thomas (story)

Stars:

Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Mark Stewart

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Stewart	...	Ace Tomato Courier
Sean Daniel	...	Ace Tomato Driver
Bruce Davison	...	Mr. Ruby
William Prince	...	Mr. Keyes
Steve Forrest	...	General Sline
Tom Hatten	...	General Miegs
Chevy Chase	...	Emmett Fitz-Hume
Ronald Reagan	...	The President of the United States (archive footage)
Jeff Harding	...	Fitz-Hume's Associate
Heidi Sorenson	...	Fitz-Hume's Supervisor
Stephen Hoye	...	Captain Hefling
Dan Aykroyd	...	Austin Millbarge
Margo Random	...	Reporter
Douglas Lambert	...	Reporter
Frank Oz	...	Test Monitor

Storyline

Two low-level government employees, Emmitt Fitz-Hume (played by Chevy Chase) and Austin Milbarge (Dan Aykroyd), are chosen for a top-secret CIA mission. They are unsuitable as CIA agents but are deliberately chosen for this reason, as their mission is a decoy one and they are expendable. After being fast-tracked through training they are parachuted into Pakistan where all manner of adventures await them.

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Plot Keywords:

slapstick comedy | missile | laser | decoy | spy | 

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Taglines:

With spies like these who needs enemies?

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

6 December 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Drôles d'espions

Filming Locations:

1308 5th St NE Washington, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,614,039, 8 December 1985

Gross USA:

$60,088,980

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.,AAR Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Mono (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

B.B. King: As an Ace Tomato Agent (C.I.A. Agent) at the drive-in.

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Goofs

End Credits acknowledge Eddie Bauer sportswear for their contributions. They are in "Redmond, Washington" but the end credits say "Redman, Washington".

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Quotes

[Milbarge and Fitz-Hume hear a sound]
Emmett Fitz-Hume: Did you hear that?
Austin Millbarge: Yeah. It's a dickfer.
Emmett Fitz-Hume: What's a dickfer?
Austin Millbarge: To pee with.

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Crazy Credits

In the end credits, Bob Hope's name appears on screen and then after a few seconds an exclamation mark is added.

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Connections

Referenced in Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier (2013)

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Soundtracks

SOUL FINGER
Written by Jimmy King, Ben Cauley, Carl Cunningham, James Alexander and Ronnie Caldwell
Performed by The Bar-Kays
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Vintage Chevy Chase

For Chevy Chase fans, this film displays one of his vintage performances---right up there with a couple of his "Vacation" films and "Fletch." He and Dan Aykroyd form a great comedic duo with great chemistry that will leave you wanting for more.

The setting changes rapidly from DC, to Pakistan, to the former Soviet Union. Chase and Aykroyd are identified as expendable Department of State personnel, and therefore trained as covert agent decoys and tasked with an ultra top-secret mission deep inside Soviet territory. The newly appointed agent/spies don't realize they're decoys, but rather, think they're real agents on a real mission. Good stuff.

Together, their bumbling antics throughout agent training and their top-secret mission are good for steady laughs from beginning to end, as they find themselves playing the "accidental hero" role charged with saving the world.

Very scenic locations, some decent special effects (for the mid-80's), and some serious plot-twists amidst the silly humor enables "Spies Like Us" to hold the viewer's attention in-between comedic situations.