What works best about The Spy Who Dumped Me is that it never sees itself as an espionage spoof. It is firmly a spy movie, that happens to be quite funny, quite often.
Mila Kunis is Audrey, a woman turning the big 3-0, and she is not so pleased with the way her life is going. Turns out, earlier that day, her boyfriend Drew (Justin Theroux) broke up with her via text. Not feeling the celebratory vibe, it seems that Audrey would rather be home than in a bar marking her big day. Her BFF Morgan (Kate McKinnon) will have none of that. The SNL Emmy winning star makes a stellar entrance, microphone in hand, delivering an unforgettable version of Happy Birthday that merely is the tip of the iceberg of awesomeness that McKinnon delivers in The Spy Who Dumped Me.
Maybe this bday is not so bad, as Audrey meets a guy—a dashing, divinely handsome Brit—named Sebastian (Sam Heughan, Jamie from Outlander). When she walks him to his car, Audrey realizes how not-so-smart that is… after all, he could be crazy and forcibly put her in a van. Turns out, that is exactly what he does. But, not to worry. He is no psycho killer. Sebastian claims to be a MI6 spy working with the CIA’s Duffer (Hasan Minhaj) and they are desperately trying to find Drew. The fate of the world depends on it.
In utter disbelief, Audrey fails to believe what Sebastian and Duffer say is true. That is until they provide her with a cavalcade of Drew killing it (literally) with his job. They let her leave with one instruction, if she hears from her recently monikered ex, call them… immediately.
When she gets home, Audrey informs Morgan what she has been told and as if on cue, Drew shows up and the bullets start flying. Before our fab friends can say CIA, they are thrust into an international espionage episode that has them unable to trust anyone, from Sebastian to anyone else who claims to want to aide them. The story has them jetting off to Europe where things truly get interesting on a multitude of levels.
The big selling point here is, no question, the cinematic chemistry between McKinnon and Kunis. They have a palpable onscreen friendship and bond that is impossible to resist as an audience member. In fact, when all is said and done, don’t be surprised if you would like to see them revisit these characters in a sequel and also—once again playing pals in an entirely different type of tale. Sure, McKinnon delivers many of the laughs, but as Kunis has shown repeatedly over the years, she too is no stranger to soliciting the LOL moments.
We adore what McKinnon does and would watch her read the phone book because of her whip smart sensibility that has her being able to mine laughs from even the driest of places. Unfortunately, there is a little bit too much McKinnon on occasion in The Spy Who Dumped Me that thankfully, does not detract from the overall charm and hilarity of the entire film. It’s like, “OK, we get it. This character is a goofball and so are you.” Sometimes less is more and this film shows that there is a limit to how much McKinnon can be off-the-wall. It’s not much, not at all. But, just enough that somethings could have been cut.
That’s also a bit of an issue with this film. It goes on for a bit longer than it should. There easily could have been 20 minutes cut from this three-minutes-shy of a two-hour film.
Kunis is terrific, balancing the fish-out-of-water aspect of her character with a lost soul who may actually find something she is good at while working clandestinely when the stakes could not be higher. It’s interesting to witness Kunis playing this role as another spy, the iconic Ethan Hunt, is dominating the box office the previous week. Mission Impossible: Fallout and The Spy Who Dumped Me could not be more polar opposites on so many levels. Yet, given their release proximity, it’s a fascinating opportunity to look at two espionage-based films and two lead characters who anchor the action and in Kunis’ case, the humor as well. This film does not shy away from its spy central theme and it just happens to also be hilarious. That is easily why it triumphs where other spy movies that make us laugh fail.
Susana Fogel directs and co-wrote the film, with David Iserson, and it is a marvel to witness her movie magic. So much of the credit for how impeccably this tone effortlessly alters between the silly and the serious is on Fogel. Her command of choreographing action sequences illustrates her filmmaking gifts. But, what is so special and unique is how Fogel manages to intertwine the light-heartedness of her film with how high the stakes our for our two aspiring heroes and the world at large.
The Spy Who Dumped Me is a fun ride. It is a perfect summer movie to take in and escape the heat with handfuls of popcorn. Thing is, be careful with that buttery brilliance. Even in the midst of the most thrilling of action scenes, something Kunis and McKinnon say or do will have you laughing. Wouldn’t want you to choke, now!
Grade: B