The Spy Next Door

2010 "Part spy. Part babysitter. All hero."
5.4| 1h34m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 15 January 2010 Released
Producted By: Lionsgate
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Former CIA spy Bob Ho takes on his toughest assignment to date: looking after his girlfriend's three kids, who haven't exactly warmed to their mom's beau. And when one of the youngsters accidentally downloads a top-secret formula, Bob's longtime nemesis, a Russian terrorist, pays a visit to the family.

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Reviews

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies
Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
metalrage666 Unfortunately I'm watching this drivel as I'm writing this review. I thought it best to get this out now while I can still manage to keep the bile down and not be sick all over the living room.Jackie Chan must be desperate for work or something as I can't understand why someone so established as him would sign on to star in this directionless mess. In a movie that also has the "talents" of Billy Ray Cyrus and George Lopez, there was no way that this was ever going to be good and despite being labelled a kids movie and a comedy, I wasn't able to even crack a smile and I reject the idea that this movie is suitable for kids. It rips off so many other movies that have been done better and the former action star or tough guy turned comedian is just no longer funny. It didn't work for Vin Diesel, The Rock, Antonio Banderas, Kurt Russel, a whole host of others and it doesn't work for Jackie Chan. Jackie is a Chinese intelligence agent working with the CIA who's planning on retiring after his latest mission. He befriends Gillian, his neighbour who's a single mother with three kids and when she has to go away to visit her father he offers to take care of the kids. All 3 kids hate him for some reason, they're all smart mouthed brats who have never been taught any manners and they set about making his life hell as he tries his best to look after them. I'm not sure why, but kids setting a trap where an adult is covered in garbage is supposed to be funny. Personally I think it just conveys the wrong message to kids that this type of thing is OK to do. So despite their efforts to send him screaming from their lives, Jackie uses his CIA technology to thwart their plans to lock him out of his own house and sneak things past him and they gradually start to respect him.Meanwhile one of the kids downloads a file from Jackie's computer thinking that it's music or a game or something. but instead it's a file leaked from a Russian Terrorist organisation that has developed a bacteria that eats oil. This kid is supposed to be tech genius and considers advanced chemistry as light reading, but can't distinguish a coded file from an mpeg for some reason.The head terrorist, who's just escaped from prison is made aware of the download and he sends his goons to Jackie's house to get it back. Naturally there's a well choreographed fight sequence with the typical Jackie Chan trick moves and throughout the movie after more fights, Jackie finally reveals to the kids that he's a spy after having a dangerous encounter at a Chinese restaurant. Jackie & co hide out at a hotel for safety, he calls Gillian who heads back to collect her kids and tells Jackie to hit the road and basically leave her alone.The bungling Russian terrorists show up again for a final showdown and just like every other time, highly trained and determined terrorists are easily overpowered by one man, 3 kids and their frightened mother. The CIA shows up at the last minute to arrest them all, Jackie and Gillian get married as the kids reveal that they now love him and want him as their new daddy and we then have the obligatory post credits montage of bloopers and failed stunts.As mentioned previously, this is just painful to watch, it isn't funny and I certainly wouldn't let my kids watch it. I know that this is marketed as a kids movie and that it's supposed to be stupid and slapstick, it not really meant to make sense, (there isn't much of a story anyway), and it's just lighthearted throwaway entertainment; but in today's world where bullying is a growing problem and the lines of discipline versus child abuse are more blurry than ever, I don't think we need any more movies marketed to children where kids are abusing their parents, abusing their carers and coming up with schemes that may appear funny on film but can be dangerous if put into practice. The Russian terrorists in this all sound like Boris & Natasha caricatures straight out of a Rocky and Bullwinkle episode. Using bad and unfunny stereotyped accents is just no longer appropriate, even for a comedy, nor is using the same tired techniques that appear in every alleged family friendly movie. You or your children won't be missing anything if you decide to not watch this poor excuse for a comedy/family film.
TxMike When you consider what this movie was made for, its target audience of mainly kids and their parents, it succeeds very well. It is slapstick comedy at its finest, with a bit of family values thrown in while Russian gangsters are after Ho.Jackie Chan, getting very close to 60, is still his youthful self as secret agent Bob Ho. He is retiring from the business, but as we know from watching many TV shows and movies, it is almost impossible to just retire from that kind of business. Your former work has a habit of following you.One thing Bob wants to do is get to know his neighbor Gillian ( Amber Valletta) mom of two girls and a boy. But he really wants to get to know the kids better, they seem to 'hate' him but he needs to get them on his side if he is to marry their mom.The oldest daughter at 13, Madeline Carroll is Farren, who is particularly troublesome. She is rebellious and insists on calling her mom 'Gillian.' We eventually realize it is because Gillian is her step-mom, her dad has left without a trace, and she is an unhappy teen.Perhaps the best actor among the three kids is Will Shadley as Ian. But the youngest, Alina Foley as Nora, who was probably only 5, is maybe the smartest based on interviews in the Blu-ray extras. When asked if she wanted to be an actor when she grew up her answer was straightforward, "I am an actor, and I believe you already know that", with no trace of 'cuteness', just a matter-of-fact answer. But what else would we expect of the daughter of actor Dave Foley? The story gains momentum when Gillian gets word that her dad had to be hospitalized for surgery, she needed to fly out of town, and Bob convinced her he could take care of the three kids. He would just get a few things and move in for a few days. A task he was totally unprepared for, but he learns quickly.At the same time Russian gangsters are after a computer file that was believed to have been sent to Bob's computer by co-worker Billy Ray Cyrus as Colton James. (Cyrus is surprisingly good in this role.) So Bob must both take care of the kids while evading the Russians. Yes, it is an absurd premise but they handle it well for comedy. At the end there is a brief message about "family" being more than just who you are related by blood, as Farren decides to start calling Gillian "mom." This move is not high art, it is not very memorable, but for what it sets out to do, it does in a mostly entertaining way.
loogenhausen Are people sniffing glue these days? Terrible, terrible excuse for a movie. Its not OK to excuse this as good old fashioned family entertainment. If you do, you are committing child abuse and I want to report you to the authorities. The characters are all completely unlikable, one-dimensional and above all, one hundred percent idiotic. Not one line of dialogue feels right, not one single scene worked at all. The mother is a complete imbecile and the children all deserve a punch in the face. Poor Jackie Chan needed some money, that is the only reason he was in this - and not to entertain your little dimbulb rugrats who couldn't tell the difference between a good movie and static in the first place. There are hundreds of great family films out there to expose your kids to. This is not one of them. Demand more out of your entertainment and maybe your kids won't grow up to be so stupid. If that makes you mad or offends you, then you're probably to blame.
tomdude0 This movie got negative reviews because critics didn't take into account that it's a kids movie. There is a script...it's barely there, but what's important is that it is there.Basically it's about a Chinese spy named Bob Ho who is on loan to the CIA. He's planning to retire so he can marry his next door neighbor, Gillian, a single mother with three kids who hate Bob. When Gillian has to leave town, Bob is in charge of looking after the kids while fighting off his nemesis, a Russian named Poldark.Jackie Chan is just Jackie Chan. Comic while still providing decent fight scenes. Nothing special. Not surprisingly, Madeline Carroll did a good job as Farren, Gillian's rebellious 13-year-old stepdaughter. She did great, considering what she was given. The character of the son was extremely annoying. Just everything about him got on my nerves. And the four-year-old was adorable enough.The fight scenes are all slapstick. They're a bit over-the-top and I question the plausibility of some of them, but keep in mind that they're designed to entertain kids. And they were a bit funny.Overall, this is just your standard kids movie. Moms and dads will undoubtedly fall asleep, but little kids are going to have a blast.