The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018)

“The Spy Who Dumped Me” stars Mila Kunis, Kate McKinnon, Sam Heughan, Justin Theroux, Hasan Minhaj, and Fred Melamed.  Released on August 3, 2018, the film is about a woman who finds herself in hot water when she discovers that her ex-boyfriend is a CIA agent.

The film is directed by Susanna Fogel, who also directed the 2014 romantic comedy, “Life Partners”.  There are several action films where the spy gets the girl, but what if there’s a film where the spy breaks up with the girl?  Enter the latest action comedy that sounds like it could be a spoof of the 1977 James Bond film, “The Spy Who Loved Me”, but it’s actually not.  Last August saw the success of another action comedy, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard”, thanks to the presence of Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson, so now this film is looking to copy that type of success with main actresses Mila Kunis from “Bad Moms” and Kate McKinnon from the “Ghostbusters” reboot.  Is it able to accomplish this mission?  Not really, but for what it’s supposed to be, it’s pretty enjoyable.

One of the major aspects of making every action comedy entertaining is the chemistry between the main actors.  Case in point, we have Mila Kunis as Audrey Stockton, a woman who got dumped by her boyfriend (Justin Theroux), and Kate McKinnon as Morgan Freeman, Audrey’s friend.  Before you ask, I did realize that she is named after the famous actor.  While their attempts at providing humor weren’t as clever as the film’s plot, their chemistry was tolerable enough to prevent the film from getting shot in the face.  Kate McKinnon was weirdly amusing as usual even though most of her jokes leaned heavily on the idiotic side rather than the hilarious side.  As for Mila Kunis, she has plenty of moments that I enjoyed, but they didn’t stick out very well.  The film also has some fun action sequences that were nicely shot and, at times, brutal.  They do feel like they could’ve belong to any other action movie, but if you prefer these types of sequences with a side of comedy, these sequences should be able to suit your needs.  As for the flaws, I do feel that the story didn’t quite live up to its humorous concept due to its noticeable action comedy tropes and a predictable third act.  The humor in the film was also a hit-and-miss for me.  There were some jokes that actually made me chuckle, and there were some that made me think that the writers didn’t put a lot of effort into them at all.  

Overall, despite the entertaining chemistry between Kunis and McKinnon, “The Spy Who Dumped Me” should’ve been known as “The Action Comedy That Dumped Its Audience”.  It’s a silly and predictable comedy that might be suitable as a means of escapism.  However, as a film that tries to be this year’s “The Hitman’s Bodyguard”, it’s a spy-riffic dump.  I would possibly recommend it to those who like Kunis and McKinnon in their other movies.  As for those for prefer smart action comedies, it’s worth watching at home.

C