Movie Review: Mila and Kate Elevate "The Spy Who Dumped Me"

Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon save the day—barely—in the hyperviolent buddy comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me.

The Spy Who Dumped Me—a play on James Bond’s The Spy Who Loved Me—seems to have forgotten Austin Powers beat its titular parody to the punch with The Spy Who Shagged Me. (We are running out of romantic verbs to flog this dead horse with, people!)

Which is to say, if you’re expecting a whole lot from a project that introduces itself with a retelling of a twenty-year-old Austin Powers gag, umm, don’t.

Because it’s only with subterranean expectations that you might be able to appreciate The Spy Who Dumped Me as successfully diverting and temporarily entertaining, and nothing more.

However, it’s hard to have rock-bottom hopes for a big screen buddy comedy starring the effortlessly appealing Mila Kunis and Saturday Night Live firecracker Kate McKinnon, especially one that pairs them as American besties unwittingly sucked into the world of European espionage.

Kunis plays Audrey, a Los Angeleno with zero professional prospects and an equal number of boyfriends, having just been dumped—via text message—by secret agent Drew (Justin Theroux). She had no idea of his real job, of course; his ingenious cover is host of a "jazz and business" podcast. (Who would dare investigate further?) Audrey is encouraged to burn his leftover belongings by BFF Morgan (McKinnon). In the process, she finally discovers Drew was working for the CIA, and is compelled to finish his most recent mission, and deliver his USB, carrying mysterious information, to Austria. This sets an M16 agent (Sam Heughan) and multiple assassins on their tail. Thankfully, Audrey and Morgan prove to be remarkably adept at killing anyone that get in their way.

No, seriously, the body count here is higher than Mission: Impossible—Fallout, and every death is cavalier. The John Wick franchise respects the sanctity of human life more than The Spy Who Dumped Me.

Director Susanna Fogel constructs some wickedly inventive—and absurdly violent—action sequences, including a car chase through Vienna and a vicious gun-and-fondue-fight in a café. Yet, her script—co-credited to David Iserson—never properly articulates what we’re watching, or why, powering towards a baffling finale that only makes sense if you weren’t paying total attention to the spycraft that came before, which might be recommended anyway.

The flick instead relies heavily on McKinnon’s rapid-fire one-liners and asides. She is a ceaseless comedy hydra, apparently driven by the jokes that don’t work: when one falls, two more immediately take its place. By the end, it’s her stamina, rather than the quality of the routines, that stays with you.

Her character is described in the film as "a little much", but she offers a correction: "I’m a lot much." And without the charms of its stars, The Spy Who Dumped Me wouldn’t be much of anything at all.

3/5

In Australian cinemas 9 August. Rated MA15+ for strong violence and brief nudity.

Header Image: Lionsgate