Movie Review: ‘The Spy Who Dumped Me’

The Spy Who Dumped Me is a wild and crazy ride from start to finish, almost a mess, albeit an amusing mess with a lot of action. Two best friends from Los Angeles, Audrey (Mila Kunis) and Morgan (Kate McKinnon), find themselves stuck in the center of an international conspiracy when Audrey’s ex turns out to be C.I.A. (Or is he?) It’s not long before the pair of friends travel to Europe dodging assassins and trying to determine whom they can trust because… “why not?”… which seems to be the attitude behind every action scene and nonsensical plot twist and random “joke”.

The plot is surprisingly complex as they try to connect the many action scenes and the humor; each twist seemingly negates or contradicts the majority of the plot before it. Keeping track of who is good and who is bad and trying to reconcile the new information with the story from earlier becomes a bit of a chore. Throwing in flashbacks at random times doesn’t help much. And character traits change at the drop of a hat; like Audrey’s well established lack of ability to lie just vanishes under pressure (sure, it’s plausible and not at all surprising, but it didn’t seem realistic to me given how hard they drove in that fact beforehand).

As for the comedy, well comedy is very subjective. I liked the comedy somewhat; it made me chuckle and put a smile on my face when I wasn’t confused and wondering what was happening. But I know at least two others that saw the film, one liked it more than I and the other thought it was “hilarious”. Be ready for some wild comedy, some of which probably sounded funnier on paper but plays more into the action.

Speaking of action, there are plenty of action scenes to satisfy fans. There’s fight scenes, shootouts, car chases, and a rather unique trapeze act. More than enough to please the eye. If somehow you get bored with the comedy or plot, just wait a minute or two and something will drag you back to the edge of your seat.

The two leads, Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon, are a perfect fit for their roles. Audrey is more subdued while Morgan is the wildcard; couldn’t really guess what she would say or do next. Subsequently, Kate (whose Clinton impression on SNL we don’t get to see nearly enough of anymore) carries more of the oddball off the wall comedy, but Mila gets plenty of punchlines herself. There are also a few celebrity appearances, including Jane Curtin, Paul Reiser, and Gillian Anderson; all of whom are underutilized, but the nature of their characters and plot wouldn’t really call for more.