Starring: Jackie Chan, Madeline Carroll, Alina Foley, George Lopez, Amber Valletta
Director: Brian Levant (Beethoven, Snow Dogs)
Running Time: 1 hr 32 min
Release Date: Jan. 15, 2009
Budget: N/A
Critics’ Thumbs Up: 20%
“…will bring smiles to kids – and their grandparents.” Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
“…unimaginative…” Jennie Punter, The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Like Old Dogs, The Pacifier, Daddy Day Care and so many before it, this uninspired, corny family film focuses on the overplayed concept of an unfit bachelor babysitting precocious kids. In The Spy Next Door, martial artist/ actor Chan plays Bob Ho, a CIA spy feigning as an ordinary salesman. Things predictably go awry, however, when one of the kids accidentally downloads a secret file on Bob’s computer, thereby provoking Russian “bad” guys to descend upon them. The 55-year-old Chan’s high-octane action sequences are impressive, but the cast’s acting and unimaginative storyline are not. Even young children and their accompanying parents won’t be amused at the lazy humor and predictable catastrophes.
