Spy Hard

Starring: Leslie Nielsen, Nicollette Sheridan, Andy Griffith, Marcia Gay Harden, Barry Bostwick, John Ales, Elya Baskin, Joyce Brothers, Ray Charles, Hulk Hogan, Fabio, Robert Guillaume, Pat Morita, Alexandra Paul, Mr. T., Brad Garrett (voice), Tone Loc, Talisa Soto, "Weird Al" Yankovic (uncredited)
Directed by: Rick Freidberg
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Action
1996

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Agent Dick Steele (Leslie Nielsen) must take on his old nemesis (Andy Griffith) to stop him from threatening the world.

Review:

Tim: I genuinely like Leslie Nielsen and I acknowledge how difficult it is to deliver a great spoof movie. By their nature, they seem to be lightweight, throwaway things. That's definitely the case here. Spy Hard isn't a movie you need to think twice about. It's mildly humorous while you watch it, but it has no staying power. I mostly enjoyed the film, but I can't claim it to be even a decent movie. It's fine, but forgettable.

Almost all spoof movies suffer from this same fate- in an effort to spoof everything possible, the movies throws everything up on the screen. There's barely a few seconds in between each gag. As you might expect when you're going for quantity, some of the jokes and references are going to connect and you'll get a laugh. However, the lion's share of them will not. That happens in Spy Hard. There's some legitimately funny moments throughout the film. I still laugh when I think about the name "Dick Steele" and seeing Andy Griffith play a villain was wonderful. However, far more attempted gags never get off the ground, or go so far that they lose any effectiveness they might have had. The end result is a hodgepodge of funny and many not funny moments and the sheer number of unfunny bits sinks the movie. That's the chief reason why I can't claim this movie is any good. I'm not sure the solution here. I think it would be fewer gags, but more effort into making each one funny. This would probably be frightening for filmmakers- the importance of each joke landing increases or the movie fails. However, it's a better approach than throwing everything up on screen and hoping for the best. That just never works. It sure doesn't here.

The cast is fine, but not great. Leslie Nielsen was kind of the master of these spoof movies. He's believable as a spy, but he has no problem laughing at himself and appearing utterly ridiculous. His ability to sell even the most outlandish things while looking dead-serious is a true gift. It's why he was perfect for these kinds of movies. I wish he had a better film around him. I thought Nicolette Sheridan was terrible. She just seems like she has so little talent. I can't point to one good thing she did throughout the course of the film. I have no idea why she was cast. I loved Andy Griffith in his villainous role. I wish he was a bit more restrained and given more to do, but it's inspired casting and Griffith makes the movie better. The arms thing was utterly ridiculous, but he embraced it fully. Charles Durning is always effective and I thought Marcia Gay Harden, though underutilized, made the movie better, too. Seeing Ray Charles and Hulk Hogan was fun, even if their roles were mostly pointless (Charles at least has something to do). Fabio is always a total waste of time, nothing like dating your movie as using that guy for a cameo. I thought Pat Morita's small role was hilarious- it was one of my favorites of the film. I wish he ad much more screen time. I also loved "Weird Al" Yankovic singing the James Bond-esque opening song. Brilliant. The rest of the cast (it's surprisingly large) is fine, but few true standouts.

I do feel a bit bad about not liking Spy Hard more. Nielsen is so game for these kinds of roles and you can tell he just loves it. The movie itself is harmless, as it pokes fun at a bunch of familiar movies. It's not a bad way to spend 81 minutes. There's definitely several laughs throughout the course of the movie. The problem is that as a whole, it just feels so stupid, so absurd as to render it laughable (and not in a good way). There's nothing wrong with this movie, it does what it wants to do- it just needed to be better in every aspect.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



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