The Spy Who Dumped Me

The Spy Who Dumped Me
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Susanna Fogel
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music by Tyler Bates
Cinematography Barry Peterson
Edited by Johnathan Schwartz
Production
company
Distributed by Lionsgate
Release date
  • August 3, 2018 (2018-08-03) (United States)
Running time
 117 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $40 million[2]
Box office $66.1 million[2]

The Spy Who Dumped Me is a 2018 American action comedy film directed by Susanna Fogel and co-written by Fogel and David Iserson. The film stars Mila Kunis, Kate McKinnon, Justin Theroux, Sam Heughan, Hasan Minhaj and Gillian Anderson and follows two best friends who are chased through Europe by assassins after one of their ex-boyfriends turns out to be a CIA agent. The film was released in the United States on August 3, 2018, by Lionsgate. It has grossed over $66 million and received mixed reviews from critics, who questioned the film's intended genre and tone but praised the performances.

Plot

Cashier Audrey Stockton spends her birthday upset after being dumped, via text, by her boyfriend, Drew. Her best friend and roommate, Morgan, convinces her to burn Drew's things and sends him a text as a heads up. Unbeknownst to Audrey, Drew is a government agent being pursued by men trying to kill him. He promises to return and asks Audrey not to burn his things in the meantime.

At her job, Audrey flirts with a man who asks her to walk him to his car. Outside, he tells her he is Sebastian Henshaw and that Drew works for the C.I.A. and has gone missing. Audrey claims not to have heard from Drew and upon returning home, informs Morgan that Drew is a spy. Drew returns to Audrey's apartment to retrieve his possessions, including a trophy he won from fantasy football. People soon begin shooting into the apartment and Drew tells Audrey that they must travel to Vienna together and turn over the trophy to his contact. Drew is then murdered by a man Morgan had previously met at the bar, who is himself a spy, who is then killed by Morgan by pushing him off the balcony before he can attack Audrey.

After fleeing their apartment, Morgan convinces Audrey that they should go to Vienna. Once there, they go to the café Drew told them to go to. Sebastian appears and demands the trophy and Audrey reluctantly hands it over before the entire café is attacked. Audrey and Morgan flee the scene and are chased by men on motorcycles but manage to escape. Audrey reveals that she still has Drew's trophy since she switched it with one of several decoys they purchased at the airport. Morgan calls her parents who tell her to go to Prague where she and Audrey can stay with Roger, a family friend. After some difficulty, they manage to steal a pair of passports. On the train to Prague, they also realize that the trophy contains a USB flash drive in its base.

Audrey and Morgan make it to the apartment but quickly realize that "Roger" is actually a spy who has killed the real Roger and drugged the two girls. To protect the flash drive, Audrey tries to get Morgan to swallow it. When that fails she tells their captors that she flushed it down the toilet.

The girls wake up in an abandoned warehouse, about to be tortured by Nadedja, a Russian gymnast/assassin, trained by an older couple who were introduced to Audrey as Drew's parents. To try to save them Morgan tells Nadedja stories about how close she and Audrey are, hoping to have her relate only to realize that Nadedja's best friend is a balance beam that she practiced her gymnastics on. About to die, Audrey and Morgan are finally rescued by Sebastian, who defied his partner's orders in order to try and save them. He brings them to meet his boss in Paris where they once again tell both the C.I.A. and MI6 that the drive was flushed. The women are given tickets back to America and Sebastian is put on leave.

Driving back to the airport, Sebastian explains that Drew's "parents" are actually notorious criminals; Drew was discreetly negotiating with them to sell the flash drive, and Audrey came along as part of his cover. Now certain that she can trust him, Audrey confesses to Sebastian and Morgan that she didn't flush the flash drive but instead hid it in her vagina. Sebastian struggles to decrypt the file but fails. Morgan calls Edward Snowden- who had a crush on her in a summer camp- and he helps them hack the drive. Once the device is decrypted, Sebastian realizes that it is actually full of information which can be used for blackmail.

The trio travel to a hostel where they are attacked by Sebastian's C.I.A. partner Duffer, who is actually trying to obtain and then sell the drive. They are rescued by their roommate, who thinks they are being robbed. Using Duffer's phone, they are able to confirm they have the device and pretend to go forward with a deal to sell it. The deal is to take place at a private party so Audrey and Sebastian disguise themselves as the Canadian ambassador and his wife while Morgan pretends to be a member of Cirque du Soleil. At the event, Sebastian is attacked and Morgan is forced to contend with Nadedja on an acrobat swing, eventually killing her by throwing her onto the nearby set. Unwilling to miss her chance to make the deal and stop the murderer, Audrey goes to meet her mysterious contact and finds Drew, still alive. Drew tells Audrey he fought to be able to see her but acts suspicious and goes through her purse in order to find the flash drive. Sebastian arrives, being held hostage by Drew's "parents". After a standoff, Drew's "parents" are shot leaving Sebastian and Drew each accusing the other of trying to hurt Audrey. Drew then shoots Sebastian and Audrey pretends to be grateful for his protection before grabbing Drew's gun. After Drew tries to attack Audrey he is stopped by Morgan throwing a cannonball at him. Audrey implies that she is going to kill Drew and even pulls the trigger of the gun, but reveals that she kept it unloaded. Drew is arrested and Audrey, Morgan, and Sebastian walk away.

Sebastian later gives Morgan his untraceable phone so she can call her parents to tell them she is alive. While on the call Morgan receives a call from Sebastian's boss telling him he is off suspension. Morgan begs her for a job as a spy. Meanwhile Sebastian and Audrey share a kiss.

A year later, the girls are celebrating Audrey's birthday in Japan. However, the party is a ruse and it is revealed that Audrey and Morgan are there on a mission to stop a group of Japanese gangsters, having finally become real spies.

Cast

Production

Principal photography began production in Budapest, Hungary in July 2017.[3] It also took place in Amsterdam that September, wrapping that same month.[4]

Release

The Spy Who Dumped Me premiered at Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles on July 25, 2018.[5] The film was originally scheduled to be released on July 6, 2018, but after "a phenomenal test screening" it was pushed back a month to August 3, 2018, in order to avoid a crowded July frame.[6][7]

Home media

The Spy Who Dumped Me will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 30, 2018 by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.[8]

Reception

Box office

The Spy Who Dumped Me has grossed $33.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $32.5 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $66 million, against a production budget of $40 million.[2]

In the United States and Canada, The Spy Who Dumped Me was released alongside Christopher Robin, The Darkest Minds and Death of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time?, and was projected to gross $10–15 million from 3,111 theaters in its opening weekend.[9] The film made $5 million on its first day, including $950,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $12.4 million, finishing third at the box office behind holdover Mission: Impossible – Fallout and Christopher Robin.[10] It fell 45% to $6.6 million in its second weekend, finishing sixth.[11]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 50% based on 177 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Spy Who Dumped Me isn't the funniest or most inventive spy comedy, but Kate McKinnon remains as compulsively watchable as ever."[12] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[13] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it 3 out of 5 stars.[10]

Variety's Owen Gleiberman praised McKinnon's performance but criticized the film for favoring violence over comedy, writing, "The Spy Who Dumped Me is no debacle, but it's an over-the-top and weirdly combustible entertainment, a movie that can't seem to decide whether it wants to be a light comedy caper or a top-heavy exercise in B-movie mega-violence."[14] Barbara VanDenburgh of The Arizona Republic called the film "a tonally incongruous, plodding and graphically violent comedy" and gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, saying: "Perhaps the problem isn't one of too little ambition, but of too much. The Spy Who Dumped Me is, after all, trying earnestly to be about half a dozen different things: a buddy comedy, a spy drama, a raunch fest, a thrilling action film. It's just that it doesn't have the focus to do any of those things particularly well."[15] Rolling Stone's Peter Travers criticized the film, awarding it 2 out of 5 stars. Travers stated that the film "spends way too much time on car chases, shootouts, knife fights and R-rated violence that doesn't square with the film's comic agenda" and also commented that "The Spy Who Dumped Me isn't just painfully unfunny—it criminally wastes the comic talents of Kate McKinnon."[16]

Richard Brody of The New Yorker praised the film stating, "Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon riff gleefully in the ample and precise framework of Susanna Fogel's effervescent action comedy",[17] while Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times also gave a positive review saying, "The Spy Who Dumped Me [is] a fast, funny Europe-trotting buddy caper".[18] Johnny Oleksinski of The New York Post opined it was nice to see McKinnon used properly in a movie and that Kunis was the ideal straight woman calling the two a smart match. [19]

Accolades

Awards Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
People's Choice Awards November 11, 2018 Favorite Comedy Movie The Spy Who Dumped Me Pending [20]
Favorite Comedic Movie Actress Mila Kunis Pending

References

  1. ↑ "The Spy Who Dumped Me". AMC Theatres. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Spy Who Dumped Me". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  3. ↑ Shanahan, Mark (July 17, 2017). "New Novel and Big Movie Keep Susanna Fogel Busy". The Boston Globe. Boston Globe Media Partners. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  4. ↑ Daniels, Nia (June 2, 2017). "Multiple European locations for The Spy Who Dumped Me". KFTV. Media Business Insight. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  5. ↑ McNary, Dave (July 26, 2018). "Kate McKinnon, Mila Kunis Consider Being Secret Agents at 'Spy Who Dumped Me' Premiere". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  6. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (April 28, 2017). "Lionsgate Dates Mila Kunis-Kate McKinnon Comedy 'The Spy Who Dumped Me' for Summer 2018 Release". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  7. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 22, 2017). "'The Spy Who Dumped Me' Heads To August, 'Madea Family Funeral' To Be Held In Fall". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  8. ↑ Bradley, Dan (September 10, 2018). "'The Spy Who Dumped Me' 4K, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Release Dates and Details". The HDRoom. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  9. ↑ Rubin, Rebecca (August 1, 2018). "Box Office: Can Disney's 'Christopher Robin' Top 'Mission: Impossible – Fallout'?". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  10. 1 2 D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 5, 2018). "'Mission' Notches Best 2nd Weekend For Franchise With $35M; 'Christopher Robin' No Eeyore With $25M – Sunday Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  11. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 12, 2018). "August Audiences Get Hooked On 'Meg' Shelling Out $44.5M". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  12. ↑ "The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  13. ↑ "The Spy Who Dumped Me Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  14. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (July 26, 2018). "Film Review: 'The Spy Who Dumped Me'". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  15. ↑ VanDenburgh, Barbara (July 27, 2018). "'The Spy Who Dumped Me' review: Graphic violence, comedy don't mix". The Arizona Republic. Gannett Company. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  16. ↑ Travers, Peter (July 30, 2018). "'The Spy Who Dumped Me' Review: D.O.A. Comedy Does Kate McKinnon No Favors". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 8, 2018.
  17. ↑ Brody, Richard (August 3, 2018). "The Spy Who Dumped Me". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  18. ↑ Chang, Justin (August 3, 2018). "The Spy Who Dumped Me". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  19. ↑ Oleksinski, Johnny (August 1, 2018). "'The Spy Who Dumped Me' is a secret-agent spoof that doesn't suck". The New York Post. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  20. ↑ "People's Choice Awards 2018". People's Choice Awards. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
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