At the Movies - 'I Spy'

The Associated Press

If the '60s TV show "I Spy" helped formulate the mismatched-buddy genre of action comedies, the movie version starring Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson slaughters it.

Graceless and witless, "I Spy" manhandles what should have been a decent pairing of comic actors with contrasting but complementary styles.

It takes really clever action and wily exchanges to score nowadays with this whole tired scenario of opposites in arms. But it feels as though director Betty Thomas and company didn't even try, figuring they already had the goods with a couple of stars and a recognizable brand name, spiced up with explosions, feeble gunplay and poorly staged stunts.

On television, "I Spy" broke ground for teaming black and white leads, Bill Cosby as agent Alexander Scott and Robert Culp as his civilian partner, tennis player Kelly Robinson. The show also had a brain and a heart, and the heroes made for a genuinely interesting contrast.

Murphy and Wilson, though, are mismatched boobs, insufferable in their boorish bickering and unamusing incompetence.

Early on, it's annoying that the dialogue becomes indecipherable amid the stars' shrill, simultaneous babble. Later, it's an elixir, saving viewers the trouble of even attempting to sort out the nonsense they're braying.

The most bewildering fact is that it took four credited screenwriters, two also sharing story credit, along with Murphy's esteemed knack for ad-libbing to deliver a movie's worth of chatter whose laughs can be counted on one hand.

Wilson takes on the equivalent of Cosby's character, playing U.S. agent Alex Scott, assigned to retrieve a stolen stealth bomber before Budapest arms dealer Arnold Gundars (Malcolm McDowell) can peddle it to terrorists who want to nuke Washington, D.C.

Conveniently, middleweight boxing champ Kelly Robinson (Murphy) is heading to Budapest to defend his title and happens to be on Gundars' guest list for a pre-fight bash. Under cover as Kelly's trainer, Alex gains access to Gundars' pad to try to track down the missing plane.

From then on, the only need-to-know details are that mayhem -- scads of dreary and muddled mayhem -- follow Kelly and Alex's every move. The unimaginative action is further cheapened by clumsy editing; the movie's static shots of picturesque Budapest make for better viewing.

The filmmakers toss in a couple of lame subplots: Blustering Kelly helping romantically inept Alex to seduce bombshell fellow agent Rachel (Famke Janssen); and Alex's espionage envy of super-spy Carlos (Gary Cole, badly made up as a Latino, with coal-black hair that looks as if it were dyed with shoe polish).

When he edges toward raunchy, Murphy borders on funny. But unlike his R-rated "Beverly Hills Cop" and "48 Hrs." personae, he's crippled here by a PG-13 rating.

Wilson's laid-back style worked nicely in "Shanghai Noon," where he was passive partner to Jackie Chan. As instigator rather than sidekick in "I Spy," Wilson's comic detachment clashes with his character's take-charge attitude, pretty much killing his deer-in-the-headlights routine.

Janssen has little more to do than look sly. McDowell, who can play evil and odious with the best of them (check out this year's "Gangster No. 1"), is wasted in "I Spy," a hushed little villain without a speck of menace.

The advertising blitz for "I Spy" will attract huge crowds on opening weekend. But if you spy a sequel creeping your way, stab it with a pitchfork and bury it in the backyard, then celebrate by sampling the original "I Spy," whose three-season run is available on DVD.

"I Spy," from Sony's Columbia Pictures, is rated PG-13 for action violence, some sexual content and language. Running time: 96 minutes.

One and a half stars out of four.