Rating (2.5 out of 5)
Summary: Don’t expect anything great from this movie and you will be pleasantly surprised. Another free movie on Southwest. I expected the worst, and while not a extraordinary film, “The Spy Who Dumped Me” (
Plot: Drew (Justin Theroux) dumps Audrey (Mila Kunis) and she threatens to burn his stuff. After an unexpected appearance in her apartment, he confesses his profession as a spy and the moment before he dies, he asks her to deliver the package to Vienna. Audrey and her friend Morgan (Kate Mckinnon) travel to Europe to complete his mission.
What I Liked: The notion we all a have hidden talent deep and if forced these talents would come to light inspires us all. This idyllic story arc constitutes the foundation for Audrey’s character. Audrey realizes her latent skills to hide the package, shoot the bad guy, and lie. Audrey’s transitioned from an idiot to savvy spy was mildly amusing.
The CIA spies Sebastian (Sam Heughanand) and Duffer (Hasan Minhaj) amused with their bantering and bickering. I particularly ennjoyed the bit about Duffer mentioning his Harvard degree all the time.
There were nice segments buried amongst bad scenes. The scene where Audrey and Drew select the worst song on the jukebox was cute. They build on that scene when Sebastian admits he was listening in on his partner and he reveals his selection for the worst song to Audrey, which of course endears him to her.
What I Didn’t Like: The development of Audrey offsets with her over the top best friend in Morgan. A more subtle friend would have been more effective. Not sure Kate McKinnon knows how to temper her SNL theatrics for the big screen. Her performance resembles the one she gave in Ghostbusters.
While there are amusing bits and pieces all over the place, they aren’t assembled together well to form a strong movie or story. For example, Morgan’s parents on the phone call add a whimsical element to one scene. Since they are used only once, the parents become a distraction. The script should have included them a couple more times, rather than one brief scene. Both Jane Curtain and Paul Reiser do a good job as the parents.
Additional there are unnecessary scenes adding little value to the film. For example, a model/spy working for the bad guys, Nadedja (Ivanna Sakhno) kills the show runway director when he prevents her exit from a show when called into service. The killing felt excessive to me and not very spyesque. Additionally, an overabundance of characters added to the choppiness of the film. The list of characters is as follows Audrey, Morgan, Nadedja, the fake parents, Drew, Sebastian, Duffer, and Morgan’s parents.