My Spy

My Spy
Starring Dave Bautista, Chloe Coleman, Kristen Schaal, Parisa Fitz-Henley
Directed by Peter Segal

There has to be a hidden agreement for wrestlers who wish to be movie stars, that they must star in at least one obligatory family-friendly film.  Dwayne Johnson ("The Tooth Fairy"), John Cena ("Playing With Fire"), Kane ("See No Evil" - alright, maybe not).  Dave Bautista joins the line of former wrestlers-turned-movie stars with "My Spy," even though he's already fully established himself as a credible actor in films like "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Blade Runner 2049," but again it seems to be in wrestlers' blood to do films like this.  What sets "My Spy" apart from the other aforementioned films, however, is that it was actually quite enjoyable - even if it's entirely predictable.

JJ (Dave Bautista) is a former Army Ranger who now works for the CIA, but his brutish frame and take-no-prisoners methods don't really fit in well with the espionage racket, and after a botched job he's assigned to watch over widowed Kate (Parisa Fitz-Henley), whose husband was the brother of the man the CIA wants to nab before he finds blueprints to a nuclear weapon.  His partner is Bobbi (Kristen Scaal), a tech specialist with no ounce of combat training who idolizes JJ, while JJ finds the entire operation boring - until Kate's nine-year-old daughter Sophie (Chloe Coleman) finds one of their hidden cameras in the house, and blackmails JJ to teach her to be a spy or she'll tell her mother everything.

At first JJ is reluctant to train Sophie, because he's spent years building up walls to keep others out due to the dangers of his job, but he slowly begins opening up to Sophie more - meanwhile Sophie needs a father figure in her life, as she's been picked on in school and doesn't have any friends.  These two mismatched souls find a connection, but it's all threatened by the arrival of Sophie's uncle, who cares more about world annihilation than a family reunion.

Yes, you can tell the whole movie by the trailer, and of course it doesn't offer any new twists or turns, but "My Spy" is heightened by the playful, charismatic banter between Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman, as both give more than what's needed in their performances.  You could forgive someone like Bautista to phone in a performance here, but you can tell his dedication to the project that far exceeds the meager script he was given.  Likewise, Coleman could've fallen under the traditional "annoying kid sidekick" role, but she possesses an acting prowess beyond her years, giving Sophie an incredibly well-rounded feel and a child that you actually root for in a film.

Everything surrounding these performances are typical, and even the action is incredibly dulled down to probably a PG rating if it wasn't for the repetitious play of Cardi B's "I Like It" would've garnered such a rating.  The action is not the main driving point of the film anyway - I was so caught up in JJ and Sophie's surrogate father-daughter dynamic I almost forgot why he was there in the first place.  It was just a fun, delightful film that the whole family can enjoy, even if it's simple and cookie-cutter.

With the inspired pairing of Dave Bautista and Chloe Coleman, "My Spy" offers a bit more than just your traditional wrestler-family-friendly films, providing a fun escape from the turmoil of the world.

The Score: B+