The Spy Next Door

Plot

Bob Ho is a CIA undercover agent who decides to retire after putting Russian terrorist Anton Poldark behind bars, and marry his longtime girlfriend Gillian, who lives next door and has three children from previous relationships, Farren (a step-daughter), Ian and Nora. None of them know about his job. One day, Gillian leaves to visit her father in a hospital in Denver, Colorado and leaves Bob to take care of her children, who all despise him and plot to get rid of him. Using some technology from the CIA, Bob is able to get control of them. His partner, Colton James, informs him that Poldark has escaped prison and they suspect there is a mole in the CIA. James sends a file to Bob's computer for a top secret formula for an oil-eating bacteria Poldark is working on. While snooping around Bob's house, Ian downloads the file, which he mistakes for music, onto his iPod. Poldark discovers the download and sends some of his people to Bob's house, but Bob overpowers them.

After the attack, Bob and his children hide at a Chinese restaurant, where Poldark's teenage henchman, Larry, tries to kill Bob. Bob defeats him and is forced to tell the children about his job. His boss Glaze then arrives, points a gun at him and demands the downloaded file, revealing himself as the mole working for Poldark. Bob knocks out Glaze with Nora's turtle, then hides in a hotel with the children. He tells Gillian over the phone about his job. Fearing for her children's safety, she flies home to take them and break up with him.

Bob heads to an abandoned factory to confront the Russian terrorists, but finds that Ian, wanting to become a spy, and Farren have run away from home. The trio are captured by the Russians, who force Ian to reveal that the file is on his iPod. As Poldark, his partner Tatiana, and Glaze go to Gillian's house. Bob and the children escape and defeat the remaining terrorists. They then go to Gillian's house and Poldack and his crew arrive soon after. Bob and the terrorists fight, with the children using Bob's secret weapons to defeat some of them. Soon after, Colton and his crew arrive to arrest the Russians and Glaze. Gillian initially rejects Bob, but soon realizes he is a good man after Nora says she wants him to be her father and Farren and Ian confess that Bob lied to protect them. Bob and Gillian then get married.

Cast

Soundtrack

Box office

In its first weekend, in the US, The Spy Next Door made $9.7 million in 2,924 theaters, opening at #6. It grossed $12.9 million over the four-day period, ranking #5 on that term. The film grossed $45.1 million on a $28 million budget.

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 12% based on 89 reviews, with an average rating of 3.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Lacking a script funny enough to cover up for Jackie Chan's fading physical gifts, The Spy Next Door fails on every conceivable level." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, it holds an average score of 27 out of 100 based on 21 critics, indicating "generals unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.

Most film critics targeted the film for "lacking a script," such as Michael Phillips of The Chicago Tribune for being "True Lies without the striptease or the Arab-maiming" and Kyle Smith of The New York Post who also claimed the film is "ripping off True Lies." Lael Loewenstein of Variety gave the film a negative review saying the film's "cartoonish jokes and misfired gags are likely to elicit more eye rolls than laughs." Daniel Eagan of The Hollywood Reporter also disliked the film saying most of the film is "pretty tired stuff from Pacifier-style slapstick to comic relief delivered by, of all people, erstwhile country star Billy Ray Cyrus" and that Chan "seems stiff" and "clad in unattractive clothes and forced into dumbed-down situations." David Stratton of At the Movies dismissed the film calling it "a sad viewing experience". He added "The woeful screenplay, the mundane direction, by Brian Levant, and the indifferent acting all combine to sink a stupid plot which should never have got off the ground." Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film 2½ stars. Rickey, giving the film the benefit of the doubt, wrote "The plot may be forgettable, but the execution is frantic and funny. The Spy Next Door is a movie that will bring smiles to kids – and their grandparents."

Home media

The Spy Next Door was released on DVD and Blu-ray on May 18, 2010.