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) (as Morton Fine), David Friedkin (characters)

Stars:

Eddie Murphy, Owen Wilson, Famke Janssen

2 wins & 6 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 | boxer | top secret | espionage | spy | 

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Taglines:

Espionage with attitude.

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the IFC website, "the movie was originally supposed to take place in Prague. Instead, the movie shot on-location in Budapest, Hungary, because the film's producer, Andrew G. Vajna, lived there" and "was eager to use his hometown as the setting because he had never seen it depicted in a Hollywood movie before."

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Goofs

When Alex is showing Kelly the eye lens cameras in his watch, the ear piece pops out. After they have put on the lenses, Alex pops the ear piece out again.

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Quotes

Alexander Scott: [to Kelly] That's the type of thing we're gonna be doing on the mission.

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Alternate Versions

The UK release has 1 second cut from the film (shot of a knife entering someone's leg and then being removed) to avoid a '15' rating.

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Connections

Referenced in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: Will Smith turns into a Pidgeon (2018)

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Soundtracks

Rock The Party
Written by Raymond Scott, Mario Winans and Michael Carlos Jones
Performed by Benzino (as Benzino)
Courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

I Spy no chance of a sequel

Another Hollywood offering based on the time honoured principle of remaking classic TV shows to guarantee financial returns. However, unlike some that still managed to flop, I Spy for the most part delivers.

The story is typical Bond-style spy action: Someone has stolen a top secret invisible plane from the American government and is selling it on the black market, and it's up to our heroes to get it back. The story is secondary to the comedy in this movie, mostly between its two stars - Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson. Murphy reprises his wise-cracking sidekick role, last seen in Shrek. Instead of a talking donkey though, this time he is a world-champion boxer. If you can with-hold your disbelief of this concept for ninety minutes his performance is fairly enjoyable. At times there is a glimpse of great chemistry between his egotistical celebrity and Wilson's downtrodden spy in love.

Unfortunately this is a movie that suffers from an identity crisis: Is this a spy thriller with jokes, or is it an all out spoof of the genre? Because of this the movie falls somewhat uncomfortably between the two, with long periods with no jokes at all followed by hilarious set-pieces.

Having said all this, I Spy is still fairly entertaining, and if you're just looking for a film to fill a friday evening you could do a lot worse than to choose this one.

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures - storyline and trailers

Country:

USA Hungary

Language:

English Hungarian Russian

Release Date:

1 November 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

I-Spy

Filming Locations:

Hungary

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,752,803, 3 November 2002

Gross USA:

$33,561,137

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$51,386,477

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Tall Trees Productions, C-2 Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1