cult film freak: SPIES LIKE US

Written by James M. Tate / 3/20/2011 / 2 Comments / action , adventure , bernie casey , buddy , chevy chase , cold war , comedy , dan aykroyd , donna dixon , eighties , espionage , john landis

SPIES LIKE US

3/20/2011 | 2 Comments

title: SPIES LIKE US
year: 1986
cast: Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Donna Dixon, Bernie Casey
rating: **1/2

This mid-eighties John Landis comedy has Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd as two Washington slackers sent as pawns into Pakistan and Russia. There are a few good moments and a semi-involving adventure, just not many real genuine laughs. Scenes where the boys train as paratroopers in America, and first sent on their mission, exceeds the finale involving a hidden nuclear missile. Landis busily juggles homages of the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby "Road To" movies (Hope provides a cameo), "Lawrence of Arabia" and cold war espionage, forgetting that a comedy should be more funny than significant. But the real problem are our two leads: while both are likable, it's never clear which is the straight man and which is the goofball. And prepare for the worst closing credit song ever composed for the screen by, alas, Paul McCartney.

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Tags : action , adventure , bernie casey , buddy , chevy chase , cold war , comedy , dan aykroyd , donna dixon , eighties , espionage , john landis

James M. Tate

2 comments:

cdogzillaMarch 22, 2011 at 4:47 PM
Facepalm at 2:52 looks like McCartney's "What've I done?" moment of realization.
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James M. TateMarch 24, 2011 at 1:00 PM
yeah i know, it's SO bad, then again Paul has written some doozies post Beatles, but this takes, and eats, the cake
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