Review: The Spy Who Dumped Me
Unlike the Bond film title from which it takes its inspiration, The Spy Who Dumped Me is less about the spy than the dumped. Specifically, it is about Audrey (Mila Kunis), but also her irrepressibly, eccentrically exuberant best friend Morgan (Kate McKinnon). Not that the film is lacking in spies, for it certainly abounds with all manner of them - professional, double, accidental, and everything in between - but they are mere set dressing and the plot mostly a MacGuffin to throw two always game leading ladies into an endless parade of comic but mostly violent shenanigans.
Before the besties are thrown into an espionage crisis, a little bit of back story: Audrey finds herself ghosted on her birthday by her yearlong boyfriend, Drew (Justin Theroux), whom she believes to be an NPR podcaster but is actually a CIA agent who has an awful lot of bad guys on his tail. Still in shock from learning his true identity via a visit from his fellow agents Duffer (Hasan Minhaj), who never resists an opportunity to mention that he went to Harvard, and Sebastian Henshaw (Sam Heughan), an extremely easy on the eyes MI6 operative, Audrey and Morgan find themselves even more shocked when Drew resurfaces only to be shot to death in front of them. Before he takes his last breath, he makes her promise to carry out his mission, so she and Morgan hightail it to Vienna to hand over a trophy containing vital information to his contact. Accomplishing the mission would guarantee the safety of the world.
Much like the far more superior Spy, which served as a brilliant showcase for Melissa McCarthy's blazing talents, The Spy Who Dumped Me derives much of its comedy from how the two women figure out a way to escape one dangerous situation after another and draw confidence from their survival. Unlike Spy, however, The Spy Who Dumped Me doesn't quite strike the right balance between its comic and violent moments. As fun and rousing as it can be to watch the bloody free-for-all that occurs in a fancy Viennese cafe, there's also something so grinding and relentless about it that it strangles the more comedic elements. Whilst it makes sense that Audrey and Morgan would be freaking out during all of these first-time experiences, excessive screaming seems to be the baseline reaction. The filmmakers provide enough well-staged distractions that viewer interest never flags, but the freneticism is too much by half.
Calibration also seems to be an issue with McKinnon's performance. She's a tremendous talent who has always shone in supporting roles, but has yet to find a vehicle to spotlight her abilities to maximum effect the way Spy did for McCarthy. But McCarthy also had director Paul Feig, who knew how to both contain and liberate his leading lady. Director Susanna Fogel, on the other hand, lets McKinnon fly her freak flag to the point where scenes come off as one long gag reel where they may feel funny, but also out of context. At least her whirlwind unpredictability melds well with Kunis' sly deadpan - the two make for an entertaining pair, though their easy chemistry often gets lost in the mayhem.
The Spy Who Dumped Me
Directed by: Susanna Fogel
Written by: Susanna Fogel, David Iserson
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kate McKinnon, Sam Heughan, Justin Theroux, Gillian Anderson, Hasan Minhaj, Jane Curtin, Paul Reiser, Fred Melamed, Ivanna Sakhno
