From women to women – The Spy Who Dumped Me Review

Audrey is spending her birthday in Los Angeles, but the day of celebration is irreparably ruined by the fresh breakup with her boyfriend Drew, who broke up with her via a simple message.

The truth is that the man is a secret agent working for the CIA, engaged in a dangerous mission to recover a flash drive containing sensitive data. Filmed in Hungary, the film belongs to the buddy movie genre, with a novelty of a female couple.

In addition, one of the leading actresses, Kate Mckinnon, is a great lover of Hungary and in fact, she even learned a bit of the language, so much so that she was fascinated by the places she visited.

Specifically, “The Spy Who Dumped Me” was filmed in Vienna, Amsterdam, Prague, Berlin and Budapest. It is no coincidence that the two protagonists have defined the filming of the movie as the most enjoyable experience of their career.

Two hours of viewing in which one never unsderstands where the parody ends and the pure genre action begins, such is the underlying strength behind an operation like “The Spy Who Dumped Me”.

Who said action movies don’t appeal to women? It is from question that director and screenwriter Susanna Fogel started to build “The Spy Who Dumped Me”, a comedy that saw the participation in the writing of David Iserson, Fogel’s friend and known for his contribution to the TV series “Mr. Robot”.

In fact, the movie has all the right elements to be a full – blown action, in which bangs and explosions, chases and betrayals alternate with rhythm to comic moments and romantic scenes, thanks to a free direction and a well – structured characterization of the characters.

“The Spy Who Dumped Me” takes up the classic canons of the spy movies(from the timeless James Bond to the modern Jason Bourne), enriching the plot with an exaggerated and shameless comedy, typically American, in which the female touch, however, makes the difference: if the French humour of Inspector Clouseau are barely perceived and are recalled by a dutiful musical clip, the real fun is thanks to the improvisation of the two protagonists and absolutely honest writing, in which there is the courage to make fun of each other without fear that “nationalist” America will take offence.

The Audrey/ Morgan axis is the nerve centre of the film: the chemistry between Mila Kunis and Kate Mckinnon makes the relationship between the two characters believable. The two actresses interact with each other with spontaneous authenticity, so as never to be caricatured (the two friends are cynical, scurrilous and very frank).

To shine is especially Kate Mckinnon, who with her extraordinary expressiveness can visually support the comic text of an irriverent script giving great verve.

Alongside the all-female couple that illuminates “The Spy Who Dumped Me” appears a third protagonist who gradually emerges to conquer the limelight: it is Sebastian (played by Sam Heughan, the handsom Scotsman who became famous for the role of Jamie Fraser in the Starz television series “Outlander”); his expressions and his jokes give life to a character who, in front of the daring events of the two improvises spies, does not know how to behave.

“The Spy Who Dumped Me” is above all embellished by a key element: the presence of Kate Mckinnon, who manages to overshadow even her wonderful colleague and guarantee the audience the long – awaited laughs. Her lines – recited with verve – turn out to be bolts of lightning appearing on the screen when least expected.

Like when Morgan (Mckinnon), tied up, bleeding and in pain, instead of asking for help, retorts, “Please go fuck yourself,” thus destroying the usual image of a damsel in distress.

Wielding such an attitude and with the right means, Kate McKinnon could have reigned throughout the film, but not this time, because this is still a new genre in which the power of sisterhood is what creates the action, and director and co – writer, Susanna Fogel, shows undeniable audacity in refusing to make the comedy too silly and girly.

In my opinion this is a summer movie with a rather thin plot even if, as said predictable in the various passages, certainly the action is incessant and evolving not leaving any dead moments and although not particularly original the scenes make good use of special effects(for example the scene that takes place in a circus with the exhibition of trapeze artists).

“The Spy Who Dumped Me” succeeds where many other films have previously failed, it finds the right balance with its protagonists, shows that it is possible to remove the figure of the woman from the stereotype of the damsel in distress to save without necessarily having to play the card of tomboy or humour excessively vulgar and sexualized, indeed in the puzzle that makes up the plot of the movies finds time to instill a light dose of romance.

This movie features a well- matched pair: the beatiful Mila Kunis on a purely comedic outing, starring in but in many ways supporting, at least in eliciting laughs, a standout Kate Mckinnon, who is in danger, however, of being hit by the Adam Sandler curse: to be better than the material she’s given, funnier than the movie she’s in.

The lineup is always the classic Saturday Night Live one, in which we remember hilarious impersonations such as Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton and even Justin Bieber; less so at the movies, with the ill-fated “Ghostbusters”.

“The Spy Who Dumped Me” remains essentially a story of friendship between women ready to do anything to help each other, whose interactions, despite the comic excess of the genre, remains credible and at times even moving. And the director’s conviction is that “God is a woman” is evident, as the song on the end credit states.