My Spy (2020)
Synopsis
A hardened CIA operative finds himself at the mercy of a precocious 9-year-old girl, having been sent undercover to surveil her family.
Dove Review
My Spy (2020) is much like Dwayne Johnson’s 2007 The Game Plan–but with less biological ties and much more language.
JJ, a former military ranger now CIA agent, knows nothing about relationships, unless you count his explosive communication skills with the enemy. His demolition tactics worked well in his ranger days, but as part of the CIA’s intelligence team, he’s a little too destructive. Benched behind the computer screen, JJ is paired with a development tech, Bobbi (Kristen Schaal), and forced to stay away from the bad guy’s nuclear schemes. However, staying away from the action is hard when JJ must keep an eye on the bad guy’s sister-in-law and niece living right across the hallway from his stakeout.
The bad guy’s niece, Sophie (Chloe Coleman), is a witty, detailed matchmaker who discovers that JJ is a spy, but she’s much more concerned with befriending him and creating the perfect love interest for her mom, Kate (Parisa Fitz-Henley), than blowing his secret. Unfortunately, it’s hard to matchmake when the bad guys show up at your front door…
The relationship that grows between JJ and Sophie parallels the softened dynamic between Joe and Peyton in The Game Plan, as JJ trades machine guns and knives for ice-skating and ice cream. Their relationship serves as the necessary reminder that our loved ones deserve more of our love, time, and resources than a job.
On the flip side, this warm message is suffocated by constant language and inappropriate relationships. In addition to countless cussing, references to genitalia, and crude, unfiltered music, a gay couple leads several scenes while actively flirting with JJ. And as could be expected with any sort of CIA film, My Spy (2020) includes lots of action scenes involving machine guns, knives, and explosives.
While I had high hopes for this film, the warm and fuzzy bond between JJ and Sophie couldn’t counteract the negative elements to create a wholesome family film, and because of this, My Spy is Not Dove-approved.
The Dove Take:
The warm and fuzzies between a tough-skinned CIA agent and nine-year-old girl can’t hide the constant language and crude references throughout this film.