I Spy (film)
Encyclopedia
I Spy is a 2002 American spy comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...

 starring Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....

 and Owen Wilson
Owen Wilson
Owen Cunningham Wilson is an American actor and writer, known for his roles in the films The Haunting, The Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander, Meet the Parents, Wedding Crashers, You, Me and Dupree, Bottle Rocket, the Cars series, The Darjeeling Limited, Marley & Me, Midnight in Paris, Shanghai Noon,...

. The film was based on the television series of the same name, that aired in the 1960s which starred Robert Culp
Robert Culp
Robert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...

 and Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...

.

Plot

At the BNS headquarters, BNS Special Agent Alex Scott (Owen Wilson
Owen Wilson
Owen Cunningham Wilson is an American actor and writer, known for his roles in the films The Haunting, The Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander, Meet the Parents, Wedding Crashers, You, Me and Dupree, Bottle Rocket, the Cars series, The Darjeeling Limited, Marley & Me, Midnight in Paris, Shanghai Noon,...

) is accosted by his rival, Carlos (Gary Cole
Gary Cole
Gary Michael Cole is an American actor. Cole is known for his supporting roles in numerous film and television productions since the 1990s.-Early life:...

), before being debriefed on his next mission. Scott is assigned to recover a stolen fighter plane sold to arms dealer Arnold Gundars (Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell
Malcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...

). The plane is known as the "Switchblade" and is invisible to both radar and the naked eye. The BNS learns that Gundars is sponsoring Middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...

 world boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 champion Kelly Robinson (Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....

)'s next match, and is using the event to auction off the plane. The agency has contacted Robinson and assigned him to be the civilian cover
Clandestine HUMINT operational techniques
The Clandestine HUMINT page deals with the functions of that discipline, including espionage and active counterintelligence. This page deals with Clandestine HUMINT operational techniques, also called "tradecraft". It applies to clandestine operations for espionage, and for a clandestine phase...

 for Scott's mission. Scott and Robinson travel to Budapest, where Scott plans to penetrate Gundars' compound during a pre-fight party taking place that night. The duo clashes from the beginning, with Robinson treating Scott as a new member of his entourage. Robinson is initially wary of Scott's penetration plan, but is convinced after Scott frightens Robinson while maneuvering the plane and gives Robinson a pair of contacts that allow Robinson to see whatever Scott sees.

In Budapest, Robinson is kidnapped after walking off with a local woman and interrogated. Scott bursts in, frees Robinson, and fights the kidnappers before revealing that the entire situation was a test. The woman is Rachel Wright (Famke Janssen
Famke Janssen
Famke Beumer Janssen is a Dutch actress and former fashion model. She is known for playing the villainous Bond girl Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye and Jean Grey/Phoenix in the X-Men film series .- Early life and education :...

), a fellow BNS agent and the object of Scott's affections. At Gundars's party, Robinson replaces Gundars's pen with a duplicate fitted with a tracking device before confronting his European challenger in the party's boxing ring. Scott, posing as a member of Robinson's entourage, uses this as a diversion to enter Gundars' private office and hack his computer. Robinson arrives unexpectedly and trips an alarm. The two are forced to escape, a task hindered by Scott's defective equipment (which according to Scott "looks like it was bought at Radio Shack
Radio shack
Radio shack is a slang term for a room or structure for housing radio equipment.-History:In the early days of radio, equipment was experimental and home-built. The first radio transmitters used a noisy spark to generate radio waves and were often housed in a garage or shed. When radio was first...

 in 1972."). After a chase spanning much of Budapest, Scott and Robinson manage to evade their pursuers by hiding in a sewer. While waiting, they converse and bond.

After returning to base, Robinson coaches Scott into winning the heart of Agent Wright (by feeding him lines from the song, Sexual Healing
Sexual Healing
"Sexual Healing" is a 1982 song recorded by American soul singer Marvin Gaye on the Columbia Records label. It was his first single since his exit from his long-term record label Motown earlier in the year, following the release of the In Our Lifetime album the previous year...

by Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....

). Scott succeeds, but is interrupted by movement on the pen tracking device. He tracks Gundars to a bathhouse, which Scott believes is a dead end. However, Robinson has a hunch that the plane is hidden in the building, leading the two into a fight with Gundars's men. Gundars speeds off in his car, with Wright in hot pursuit. Wright's car explodes, stunning Scott, who blames Robinson for her death. The two engage in a public confrontation that leads to Robinson's arrest. Nonetheless, Scott convinces the BNS that the operation can continue and tracks Gundars down once again. Meanwhile, Robinson clears up his arrest and reaches the arena just in time for his fight, his serious demeanor unnerving his entourage.

At the top of a bridge, Scott finds Gundars with terrorists fitting the plane with a nuclear missile. Scott takes the men by surprise and forces them to surrender, before being disarmed by an alive Agent Wright, who reveals she is a double agent. Wright tortures Scott for the Switchblade's activation codes. Scott activates the contact lens gadget, allowing Robinson to see the dilemma as he battles his opponent in the ring. Robinson is taken aback, but quickly recovers, knocks out his opponent, and departs for the bridge. Upon arrival, Robinson sets off a firefight which kills many of the terrorists. A few terrorists are killed by Carlos, providing back-up by parachute. After Carlos lands, Robinson infers that Carlos is also corrupt. When Carlos provokes Kelly, he knocks him out, scattering the terrorists for them to take cover. Other terrorists and Gundars are killed by Rachel. Robinson happens to take out the remaining terrorists. After the bomb on the plane is blown up (but it did not blow up the plane), Robinson appears to tell Rachel to put Carlos' gun down. She tells him that she is with BNS. Wright makes up a lie that the BNS (herself included) suspected that Carlos was corrupt and says that Mac and her pretended to team up with him so that they can finally nail him and uses this to convince the others that she is innocent. The confusion leads to a fight between Scott and Carlos, allowing Wright to escape with Gundars' briefcase, which containing sensitive information and is worth billions. With Robinson in tow, Scott attempts to fly the Switchblade away, but it crashes into the river below seconds after take off. While in the water, Robinson discovers the nuclear weapon. Scott realizes the mission is a success after all, and Robinson remarks that he will be recognized as a hero.

36 hours later, in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....

, Scott and Robinson track down Agent Wright and place her under arrest, as she remarks that she is glad the two received deserving press coverage. Scott turns up a copy of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

and sees a picture of Carlos in a parade with President Bush, receiving credit for the operation. Robinson takes this news hard, and refuses to accompany Scott to BNS headquarters for a mission debrief. Thinking quickly, Scott tells Robinson the agency has perfected a jelly-like substance that will allow its wearer to float through the air. Robinson happily agrees to go, and Scott tells another agent to retrieve some tubs of jello and two parachutes.

Cast

  • Eddie Murphy
    Eddie Murphy
    Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....

     as Kelly Robinson
  • Owen Wilson
    Owen Wilson
    Owen Cunningham Wilson is an American actor and writer, known for his roles in the films The Haunting, The Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander, Meet the Parents, Wedding Crashers, You, Me and Dupree, Bottle Rocket, the Cars series, The Darjeeling Limited, Marley & Me, Midnight in Paris, Shanghai Noon,...

     as Special Agent Alex Scott
  • Famke Janssen
    Famke Janssen
    Famke Beumer Janssen is a Dutch actress and former fashion model. She is known for playing the villainous Bond girl Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye and Jean Grey/Phoenix in the X-Men film series .- Early life and education :...

     as Special Agent Rachel Wright
  • Malcolm McDowell
    Malcolm McDowell
    Malcolm McDowell is an English actor with a career spanning over forty years.McDowell is principally known for his roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange and Caligula...

     as Arnold Gundars
  • Gary Cole
    Gary Cole
    Gary Michael Cole is an American actor. Cole is known for his supporting roles in numerous film and television productions since the 1990s.-Early life:...

     as Carlos
  • Bill Mondy
    Bill Mondy
    Bill Mondy, sometimes credited as Bill Monday, is an American film and television actor.-Career:He is best known for his appearances in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and The Dead Zone...

     as Mack McIntyre
  • Phill Lewis
    Phill Lewis
    Phill Lewis is an American film and television actor,director and comedian, often seen in comedic roles. He is best known for his role as Mr. Moseby on Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and its spin-off, The Suite Life on Deck. He also played T.C...

     as Jerry
  • Mike Dopud
    Mike Dopud
    Mike Dopud is a Canadian-born film actor, television actor, voice actor, stuntman, stage actor and athlete. He is best known for playing Detective Smits in White Noise the 2005 action-horror film, Agent Turner in Alone In The Dark a 2005 action-horror film, playing Vic Hadfield in the Canadian...

     as Jim
  • Lynda Boyd
    Lynda Boyd
    Lynda Boyd is a Canadian actress, singer, dancer, musician, and writer. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the Hollywood films Final Destination 2 , An Unfinished Life , She's the Man , and On Thin Ice, with Diane Keaton...

     as Edna
  • Viv Leacock as T.J.
  • Gábor Demszky
    Gábor Demszky
    Gábor Demszky is a Hungarian politician, lawyer and sociologist by qualification. Demszky was the Mayor of Budapest from 1990 to 2010.- Biography :...

     as Himself (uncredited)
  • Jim Finkbeiner (uncredited)

Reception

The film was nominated for three Razzies for worst remake, worst actor for Eddie Murphy, and worst screen couple for Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson. Out of a $70 million budget, the film brought in only $33 million domestically, the third box office disappointment in a row for Murphy following Showtime
Showtime (film)
Showtime is a 2002 action-comedy film directed by Tom Dey and starring Robert De Niro and Eddie Murphy.-Plot:The film centers on two cops, Mitch Preston and Trey Sellars , who are paired together for a reality police show and run into real trouble with a crime lord...

and The Adventures of Pluto Nash
The Adventures of Pluto Nash
The Adventures of Pluto Nash is a 2002 science fiction comedy film directed by Ron Underwood and starring Eddie Murphy as the owner of a lunar nightclub investigating who was behind the arson that destroyed his club...

.
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