Spies Like Us

1985's SPIES LIKE US was originally conceived by co-star/co-writer Dan Aykroyd with his old partner John Belushi in mind.  By the time of filming, Belushi had been dead for two years, losing out on this project and another of his old pal's ideas, a script that would eventually become GHOSTBUSTERS.  So instead we have a different Saturday Night Live alum, Chevy Chase, playing the idiot to Aykroyd's straight man in this mild comedy that recalls many of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope's ROAD movies.  As John Landis was the director of SPIES LIKE US, it should be of no surprise that Mr. Hope in fact makes a brief cameo appearance.

The plot involves two underachievers: a low on the totem pole, slovenly codebreaker named Austin Milbarge (Aykroyd) and wiseass diplomat/son of an envoy Emmett Fitz-Hume (Chase) who, after being caught cheating on the foreign service exam, end up as decoy agents in the U.S.S.R.  As is tradition in slob comedies, these (somewhat) lovable screw ups survive multiple instances of peril despite their incredible ineptitude and even save the day.  I won't bore you with the plot details, of how the real operatives are trying to capture a Soviet ICBM missile, and how the Defense Intelligence Agency attempts to test an anti-ballistic system.  Which of course goes wrong.

The real fun of SPIES LIKE US are the gags, in-jokes, and gratuitous cameos.  Like that of many Landis outings. There's a funny montage of the boys' rigorous training on a military course.   Look closely at the posters on the wall during a shoot out with Soviet soldiers (one of whom is played by director Costa Gavras, ha ha). B.B. King and Joel Coen are guarding an abandoned drive-in that is actually concealing an underground military bunker.  And so on. Oh, and we can't forget the famous "Doctor. Doctor. Doctor...." gag.  If all that fails to enthrall you, Donna Dixon (Aykroyd's real life bride) plays a sexily aloof American spy.

SPIES LIKE US is pleasant and amusing enough, but barely seems to have a pulse.  Aykroyd and Chase are funny, but seem tired.  Their line delivery is usually off, and the lines themselves aren't that great to begin with ("What's a dicfer? To pee with!").  Landis' direction is similarly lethargic; the comic timing he brought to earlier pics like TRADING PLACES and ANIMAL HOUSE is barely in evidence here.  Even though the Cold War was still in effect, perhaps the story's timeliness was long past.  I guess as an homage to those Crosby/Hope films it succeeds to some comfortable, unambitious degree.