I SPY

A pair of bumbling agents embark on a mission initiated by the President himself to foil the plan of an evildoer who is out to steal a U.S. secret weapon.

CAST: Eddie Murphy, Owen Wilson, Famke Janssen, Malcolm McDowell, Gary Cole, Bill Mondy, Phill Lewis

DIRECTOR: Betty Thomas

"Murphy and Wilson are undeniably funny actors, and when things click between them, as they do at least once in 'I Spy,' actual laughter results. Most of the time, however, the most impressive acting they do is pretend there is a real movie here for them to star in. There is not." --Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times

"Hollywood's Thanksgiving turkey arrives today--27 days early--in the gobbling guise of the heavily hyped, brain-dead comedy, 'I Spy'...crass and witless...The fights are poorly staged, the chases are boring--and a series of crashes and explosions can't disguise that absolutely nothing of interest is going on for long stretches." --Lou Lumenick, The New York Post

"Totally implausible situations. Jokes that fall flatter than the news that your pension fund was invested in Enron. And the vague feeling that you're lost in the desert...it makes the worst use possible of Eddie Murphy's enormous comic gifts...Wilson, whose ironic detachment melds not at all with Murphy's far more friendly/ needy humor, is an example of talent tossed on the scrap heap." --John Anderson, Newsday

"Mr. Murphy is still doing the all-id hostility of Buddy Love, the swampy-depths alter ego of 'The Nutty Professor.' It's a shame to see him treading water after proving he could act and still light up a theater with hilarity in the 'Professor' pictures...Given that the stars are constantly battling to one-up each other with their wildly varying performance techniques, there's not really a moment when they connect...Even the handful of moments that are amusing feel recycled from old sketches of Mr. Murphy's." --Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times

"The main attraction is the byplay between Wilson and Murphy, and a little of this duo goes a long way...Murphy is in full-throttle 'Saturday Night Live' mugging mode here, which means he has some inspired moments and lots where he's trying to get by on bluster and that jackass smile from 'Shrek.' Wilson's at a more even keel, but he's so completely out-shouted and out-flashed by Murphy that he often looks like an extra wandering around in their scenes."--Jack Mathews, The New York Daily News