"I SPY"
(2002) (Eddie Murphy, Owen Wilson) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Mild	Minor	Extreme	Mild	Extreme
Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	None	Moderate	Mild	Heavy
Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Moderate	Minor	None	Mild	Extreme

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QUICK TAKE:

Comedy/Action: A government spy reluctantly takes on an egotistical champion boxer as his partner while trying to stop an arms dealer from selling the most advanced piece of weaponry on the planet to the highest-bidding terrorist.

PLOT:

Alex Scott (OWEN WILSON) is a government spy who works for the Bureau of National Security. Jealous of the success and latest gadgets that rival spy Carlos (GARY COLE) receives, and deeply smitten with another spy, Rachel (FAMKE JANSSEN), Alex finds himself assigned to an important mission.

It seems that a powerful arms dealer, Arnold Gundars (MALCOLM McDOWELL), has stolen the military's latest invention, the Switchblade jet. Not only is it the most advanced piece of weaponry on the planet, but it's also invisible to radar, infrared and the human eye, thus making it rather hard to locate.

Fortunately, the super-middleweight boxing championship of the world is going to take place near Gundars' Budapest headquarters and he's planning a party the night before the match. Accordingly, the BNS recruits boxer Kelly Robinson (EDDIE MURPHY) to get Alex into the party so that he can find the plane and prevent Gundars from selling it to the highest bidding terrorist.

Accompanied by handlers/assistants such as Jerry (PHILL LEWIS) and T.J. (VIV LEACOCK), the undefeated and quite egotistical boxer agrees to help, but he and Alex initially don't like each other. Nevertheless, they set out for Budapest where Kelly's planning to box Cedric Mills (DARREN SHAHLAVI), while Alex is anxious to see Rachel who's already there in place.

From that point on, the agent and boxer become an unlikely spy duo as they attempt to infiltrate Gundars' lair, find the plane and complete their mission without getting themselves killed.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?

If they're fans of Murphy, Owen, anyone else in the cast or action comedies, they just might.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13

For action violence, some sexual content and language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:

EDDIE MURPHY plays an egocentric and boisterous champion boxer who's recruited to help Alex with a secret mission. He doesn't get along with him and is often hard to work with. He also uses a great deal of profanity, but does eventually bond with Alex and assist him.

OWEN WILSON plays a spy who's jealous of playing second fiddle to Carlos, enamored with Rachel and initially reluctant and upset about being paired with Kelly. He uses some profanity.

FAMKE JANSSEN plays another spy who's the object of Alex's interest.

GARY COLE plays a suave super spy who gets the best equipment that Alex wishes he could receive.

MALCOLM McDOWELL plays a powerful arms dealer who's trying to sell stolen U.S. military equipment to the highest bidder.

PHILL LEWIS and VIV LEACOCK play Kelly's somewhat bumbling assistants.

DARREN SHAHLAVI plays the boxer who Kelly's set to fight next.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

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Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

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OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

Here's a brief summary of the content found in this action comedy that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 51 "s" words, while many other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Some sexually related dialogue is present, while a woman is briefly seen in her panties. Other miscellaneous women are briefly seen in revealing attire.

Violence includes various people being shot and wounded or killed (but not graphically and with no blood), while many scenes feature people punching or striking others (including a woman stabbing a knife into a man's leg with a tiny bit of blood), and some boxing violence and property damage are present.

Those responsible for such mayhem have extreme cases of bad attitudes, and it's possible that some viewers could find some of those scenes and others as suspenseful, but most are played more in an action or comedic fashion rather than as intense realism. Beyond that, a few people drink and/or smoke.

Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

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ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE

Various people have drinks after a boxing match.

We see some bottles of liquor in a plane.

We see a picture of Gundars holding a glass of champagne.

Various people have drinks or champagne (that flows like a small waterfall) at Gundars' place.

Rachel has a martini in front of her.

BLOOD/GORE

Alex and Kelly end up down in a sewer and react to the smell, but we don't see anything.

Alex has a tiny bit of blood on his lip after Kelly punches him and later has more on his face after being kicked.

We see a little blood after a woman stabs a knife down into a man's leg.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE

The various villains, including Gundars and those who wish to buy the illegally obtained stealth plane from him, obviously have bad attitudes (they also try to kill Alex, Kelly and others).

A spy who goes bad obviously has a bad attitude.

Alex is envious of Carlos and the attention and equipment he gets. He then takes some of Carlos' equipment without permission.

Alex and Kelly initially don't like each other or get along.

Kelly jokes that he told his handlers that Alex was "retarded" and a "retard." He then tells him to adopt the mentally challenged look.

FRIGHTENING SCENES

Scenes listed under "Violence" could also be unsettling or suspenseful for some viewers, but most are played in an action-oriented, non-graphic fashion and/or for laughs.

Alex inadvertently creates an avalanche and goes sliding down a mountainside with it (but is okay).

Trying to get Kelly to agree to a meeting time, Alex momentarily renders the pilot of their plane unconscious and then sends the plane into a steep dive.

Alex and Kelly try to hide up near a ceiling from which they hang while Gundars and his goons walk about below them. A big chase scene with gunfire then ensues.

The plane goes into self-destruct mode and the villains and then the spies only have a short time to deactivate it.

A military jet crashes into a river, but the two men onboard are okay (despite them briefly going down with it as it sinks below the surface).

GUNS/WEAPONS

Handguns/Machine guns/Knives & Switchblades/Explosives: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill people or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details.

Nuclear warhead: Attached to the bottom of the Switchblade plane.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR

Phrases: "Let the sh*t go," "Drop the sh*t," "Spy sh*t," "That sh*t is bad," "This is good sh*t," "Ah, sh*t yeah," "They love that sh*t," "I don't want to hear that sh*t," "Bullsh*t," "Piece of sh*t," "Do you think I believe that sh*t?" "Don't screw this up," "Scary as hell," "Get your head out of my ass," "Jerk," "Bastards," "Whip your ass," "Booty" (rear end), "Retarded," "Retard," "Rainman," "Sucker," "Punk," "I'll kick your ass," "My ass," "Sissies," "Bad ass," "Balls" (testicles), "Bitch" (said several times and once as "Be-atch"), "Charming as hell," "Get your ass back in there," "Nasty as hell," "Smells like ass," "Kick your ass," "Oh, hell yeah," "Where the hell are you?" "I knew you'd screw this up," "Who the hell is this guy?" "You're booty blinded" and "Piece of ass."

Various characters have tattoos including Kelly who has the number of victories tattooed on his arm (increased by one with each victory).

Some women wear small tops that reveal their cleavage and bellies.

A miscellaneous man has a large ring through his nose.

JUMP SCENES

None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)

A moderate amount of suspenseful and action-oriented music occurs in the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)

Kelly sings lines from the song, "Sexual Healing" that include "I woke up this morning, a fever storming inside of me...I need sexual healing."

PROFANITY

At least 51 "s" words, 1 slang term for sex ("Wax that ass"), 41 asses, 16 hells, 5 damns, 1 crap, 2 uses each of "G-damn" and "God" and 1 use of "Oh my God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY

We see various Vegas showgirls in skimpy/revealing attire (that shows a lot of leg and cleavage).

Kelly comments to some women about someone having drawers made out of licorice. After he receives a call from the President, he says that he was asked to do some spy work and that instead of being called "007," he should be called "double-o nine and a half" (and tells the women that that's a little innuendo).

A woman states that she'd do anything to be on a two-week stakeout with Carlos, and comments on Rachel having done that. She then adds that she knows the look of "total satisfaction."

Alex tells a technician (about the size of his gadgets), "Size matters. But in the spy world, it's reversed. You want people to say 'Look how small and sexy and sleek this is. Not how huge this is. Look what he just pulled out of his pants - it's huge.'"

Some women wear small tops that reveal their cleavage and bellies.

Rachel wears a very short and tight dress and comes on to Kelly. She suggestively tells him that she'd love to go to his room and get his autograph. She then says that they can go to her room and then passionately kisses him. Alex breaks this up, but Kelly says he's going to "wax that ass." As Kelly and Rachel walk off, Alex asks if she has a sister, and Kelly says they're not going to call him and that it's just going to be the "three of us" (Kelly and the two women). Kelly then asks Rachel her name and she asks why he wants to know and wonders if he's going to scream it (during sex).

We briefly see some women in bikinis at Gundars' place.

We see some classic statues that show bare breasts and/or full frontal (but not explicit) nudity in several scenes.

Knowing that Rachel has gone in to take a nap on a cot at the team's headquarters, Kelly has Alex go in and talk to Rachel, saying the words he hears via an earpiece (Kelly can also see what he's seeing via a specialized contact lens transmitter). Kelly wants him to say that he's getting ready to make love to her so good and so long (but Alex doesn't repeat that). Kelly then starts singing the lyrics to the song, "Sexual Healing," while Alex recites them more as dialogue. It includes, "I woke up this morning, a fever storming inside of me...I need sexual healing." She then says that she's getting hot and throws back the covers and we see her in her panties. Kelly then tells Alex to "bite her on the ass real hard." Alex says no, which makes Rachel think he doesn't like her exposing herself that way and so she covers herself up. He then says yes, and she throws the covers back and this continues for a bit (as Kelly keeps telling him to bite her there). She then says that she knows what she wants and slowly walks over to him, throws him up against the wall and knees him quite hard in the gut or groin. She then throws him onto the cot, straddles him and starts to undo her top (but Alex turns off the transmission so that Kelly can't see anything else). Work calls, however, and they're interrupted.

We briefly see some women in bikinis.

Kelly tells Alex that Alex is "booty blinded" by a "piece of ass."

SMOKING

Two miscellaneous men smoke.

Gundars gives a cigar to one of his bidders and has one for himself, but neither man smokes.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES

None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT

The suspension of disbelief (even for a film like this) to go along with what occurs.

Real spies and real spy life.

Boxers and boxing.

Advanced military weaponry.

VIOLENCE

Most of the following is played in an action-oriented, non-graphic fashion and/or for laughs.

A guy's leg is broken after being caught in an avalanche. As he's unwilling to cooperate with Alex, the spy grabs the man's leg and starts to pull him along, causing him some pain. Enemy forces then arrive on the scene as Alex carries the man off and they fire machine guns into a human dummy. A tank then approaches and fires flames at them, but a friendly helicopter arrives and its gunmen fires at the enemy forces. Although we don't see the impact, we do see a number of non-bloody bullet holes in the other man's clothing and we later hear he's dead.

There's some standard issue boxing violence with harsh blows delivered to opponents.

In a government lab, we see a person purposefully shoot a man in his bulletproof vest as an experiment and the shooter is knocked backwards by that.

Kelly briefly flies his jet and takes it on a sudden steep climb that sends Alex and any other loose articles tumbling and crashing toward the back of the plane.

Men grab Kelly and yank him into a vehicle. Others later hold guns on him and Rachel threatens him with a knife (saying they should cut off his penis and she slices through his belt). Alex then comes in and shoots all of the men. Rachel then struggles with him, smashes his hand holding the gun against a wall and knees him in the crotch. Kelly then grabs a gun and wildly shoots it at her as she's on top of Alex (but all of that turns out to be a setup and no one was shot).

Dressed in tuxes the night before the match, Kelly gets Cedric into the ring and playfully taunts him (to create a distraction for Alex). He then slaps Cedric who tries to punch Kelly several times, but Kelly blocks all of them.

A ceiling anchor breaks sending Alex and Kelly crashing to the floor after the cable holding them gives way.

Various goons shoot at Kelly and Alex as they try to escape on a roof. The two then jump down onto a tent-like structure and crash to the ground, but are okay. They then run with the goons still firing at them and try to escape in a slow-moving cable car (that's riddled with bullets). Alex then throws a canopy of sorts onto one of the pursuers and it knocks him down.

The two then try to escape beneath a large balloon, but it's shot and they go zipping off through the air.

While on a trailer carrying many cars, Kelly starts one and backs into others, causing the last one to fall and crash onto a pursuing car and another car crashes into it. Alex then sets off an explosion beneath another car that then blasts it up into the air and then down onto the road where it hits another pursuing car. The goons keep shooting at them until Kelly lowers the trailer and its ramp crushes yet another car.

Various goons shoot at Alex and Kelly on a motorized scooter and those two barely make it between two passing trolleys.

Goons open fire on Alex and Kelly in a sauna. Alex returns fire and hits several of them (no blood), and then shoots what must be a gas pipe as it then explodes and sends two goons flying through the air (and causes some property damage).

A car explodes and presumably kills the driver (although we later learn that's not the case).

Alex and Kelly decide they have to fight each other. Thus, after some brief dancing around, Kelly punches Alex quite hard in the face. Alex then delivers a kick to Kelly who then kicks Alex in the crotch.

Alex discovers that the team's headquarters has been ravaged (but we don't know about the people).

Alex kicks a man in the face and presumably knocks him out.

Alex applies an electrical cable to a handrail that shocks a man and sends him falling down some steps (but we don't know if he's just knocked unconscious or is killed).

Rachel kicks a guy in the crotch and then holds a gun on him after he held a gun on another man. That man is then tied up and Rachel kicks him in the chest. She then kicks him in the face and repeatedly hits and kicks him. She then threatens him with a knife, eventually stabbing it down into his leg. She then threatens him with the knife and cuts his belt off (preparing to cut off his penis that never occurs).

More boxing ring violence occurs with harsh punches delivered to opponents.

Various people hold guns on others; a fight breaks out with some brief hitting and then various people fire at each other with guns and machine guns.

A spy shoots and injures or kills various goons (no blood).

Kelly knocks out a guy while Rachel shoots some people with a machine gun (no blood).

An explosive is thrown off a bridge tower just as it detonates (resulting in a huge explosion, but no injuries or deaths).

A man blocks many punches thrown by another man, but that man then slaps the second man back and forth. After someone else distracts the attacker, the second man hits the attacker over the head and knocks him unconscious.

Kelly punches and knocks a man out.

A military jet crashes into a river, but the two men onboard are okay.

A woman knees a guy in the crotch, but he's wearing a protective cup beneath his clothes and thus isn't hurt.

Reviewed October 28, 2002 / Posted November 1, 2002

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