I SPY

US, 2002, 97 minutes, Colour.
Eddie Murphy, Owen Wilson, Famke Janssen, Malcolm Mc Dowell, Gary Cole.
Directed by Betty Thomas.

Probably be going to be seen on thousands of in-flight screens. Based on the popular 60s TV series with Bill Cosby and Robert Culp, we now see Owen Wilson - who has a flair for deadpan comedy heroics, see Shanghai Noon - teaming with Eddie Murphy - who has had plenty of action on screen and enjoys comedy. The plot plays like an episode in a James Bond film. The setting is exotic, Budapest filmed to advantage. There is a lot of high-powered action, a lot of which is played for laughs. Famke Jansen adds glamour and Malcolm Mc Dowell snarls as a billionaire arms dealer villain. Predictable light entertainment.

1. The popularity of remakes of television programs? The popularity of the original program? The style of the remake?

2. The popularity of espionage films? The James Bond tradition? This film as a blend of comedy and seriousness? In the James Bond vein?

3. The American settings? Espionage, US officials? The boxing world? The world of the media and PR? The transition to Budapest, Budapest as itself? The old buildings, castles? The city? The streets? Atmosphere for espionage? The musical score?

4. The original I Spy, the odd couple pairing of spies? Working off each other? Solving mysteries? The new pairing, black and white, two comedians? The antagonism, the collaboration – and each changing the other?

5. The espionage situation: Arnold Gundars and his plane, its invisibility? His trying to sell the plane? The auction – and the international bidders? His agents? His sinister style? The confrontation with Kelly Robinson and Alex Scott? The defeat at the end? The background of the plane, the science, the technology? The dramatic use of the plane appearing and disappearing? Comic use?

6. Kelly Robinson, an Eddie Murphy character, loudmouthed? In the ring, his fans, the confrontation with his opponents, the knockout? The later irony of his being in the ring with the hearing-piece in his ear, his listening to Scott, his being KO’d? His assistants? Public relations? His vanity? His being used as a cover by the government? His going to Budapest? The encounter with Scott, the antagonism? His meeting with Rachel? The training, the encounter with Carlos? His use of the guns, the hearing aid with its information? His befriending Alex, doing the Cyrano de Bergerac thing and helping him with his attentions towards Rachel? Society, the fans, his moving amongst people? The searching of the palace, being trapped, falling through the roof …? The other escapades? Rachel’s betrayal? Carlos’s appearance? The problem of who was the enemy and who was the ally? His learning something from his friendship with Scott, his contributing to the solution of the problem?

7. Owen Wilson as Alex Scott, seeing him in action, daredevil? His skills? His infatuation with Rachel? Watching Kelly on the television? The banter between the two? The initial antagonism? The training, the gun training, the going to Budapest? Keeping in contact? Kelly helping with his attentions to Rachel? His love for Rachel, the shock to find she was a double agent? The escapades in the palace, the social meetings, the dinner, searching the rooms? Being caught? The car chases?

8. Rachel, strong, supportive? The irony of her betrayal? Her lies, Carlos’s appearance, her disappearance?

9. Carlos, Gary Cole’s comic performance as Carlos? Arrogant, his manner? His reappearance at the end, Kelly and his confronting him? Trying to decide whose side Carlos was on?

10. The parody of the more serious espionage stories? The parody of the James Bond secret agent style? How well did the film blend the comic and the serious?