Line #54 Film/MySpy


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/myspyp.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''[[TagLine He's a pro. She's a natural.]]'']]
3	->''"Under the rough exterior, you seem like a nice guy. But sort of damaged and alone."''
4	-->-- '''Sophie'''
5
6	''My Spy'' is a 2020 action comedy directed by Peter Segal and written by Jon and Erich Hoeber. It stars Creator/DaveBautista and Creator/ChloeColeman, with Creator/KristenSchaal, Parisa Fitz-Henley, and Creator/KenJeong in supporting roles.
7
8	Following a botched mission to bring down an illegal weapons trade between the [[TheMafiya Russian mafia]] and a Middle Eastern terrorist, CIA agent JJ (Bautista) has been partnered with tech specialist Bobbi (Schaal) and reassigned to monitor the in-law family of [[BigBad Victor Marquez]], a French arms dealer who intended on selling the bomb to the terrorist. HilarityEnsues as JJ soon finds himself at the mercy of 9-year-old Sophie (Coleman).
9
10	The film was originally scheduled to be released in theaters but was shafted several times due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, [[ShortRunInPeru thought it did hit theaters on schedule in Canada]]. It was finally released on Creator/PrimeVideo on June 26, 2020. [[https://deadline.com/2023/02/my-spy-2-anna-faris-craig-robinson-flura-borg-1235267776/ A sequel is in the works.]]
11	----
12	!!''My Spy'' contains examples of:
13	* ActionMom: Kate has her moments; see MamaBear below.
14	* ActionPrologue: An undercover mission crumbles in its original plan and turns into a shootout with explosions, bullets, and dead hostiles. This directly reflects that JJ's skill at "kicking ass" outweighing his ability to, in that case, hold a cover makes him ''unsuited'' to being a secret agent.
15	* AmoralAttorney: It's implied that Kroll, "international scumbag", is such a character.
16	* BattleCouple: [[spoiler:The gay neighbors, who are actually arms dealers and first became a couple while spying on Sophie and her mom]]. They do a decent job fighting Victor and his bodyguard.
17	* BigBad: Victor Marquez, a French arms dealer who lost his brother and is planning on selling a nuclear bomb to a Middle Eastern terrorist.
18	* BigDamnHeroes: {{Discussed\|Trope}}, set up, [[spoiler:but ultimately subverted]]. When JJ and Bobbi first meet, JJ refuses to let Bobbi into the action side of their work, to which Bobbi proposes that maybe she can become the action, [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall "surprising everyone"]], and that he might need her to save her ass in a pinch. JJ outright tells her to keep dreaming. [[spoiler:When JJ, Kate and Sophie are cornered by Marquez and co. towards the climax, she tries to intervene with the items from JJ's weapon box, and ends up dropping a live rifle down a set of stairs, blowing up the hallway of an apartment complex, and ultimately [[NiceJobBreakingItHero allowing Marquez to escape with Sophie as his hostage]].]]
19	* BondOneLiner: Sophie gets one in after [[spoiler: Marquez falls to his death along with his plane: "Have a nice flight, dick!" JJ ribs her for it, and she responds, "Give me a break. I was nervous."]]
20	* BookEnds:
21	** On JJ and Kate's first date, JJ ends up goofily dancing to Music/CardiB's "I Like It". When they go ice skating with Sophie at the end of the film, the song starts playing again, to which JJ busts out the same moves. To his credit, he gets ''slightly'' better.
22	** The first time Sophie goes ice skating, a pair of girls who shrug off her attempts at friendliness are called away to a game of tag, and make no effort to bring Sophie along. In the aforementioned last scene at the ice rink, after Sophie's reputation increases thanks to JJ, she is approached first by another kid.
23	* BrainsAndBrawn: When Sophie says this word-for-word about JJ and his surveillance-master Bobbi, JJ gets defensive and unwittingly picks up the other side of talking like he's suited to teach her anything.
24	* CelebrityParadox:
25	** When JJ's cover as a Russian arms dealer is blown, the diplomat mocks his Russian accent as sounding like "Creator/MickeyRourke in ''Film/IronMan2''". Dave Bautista plays Drax in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse and teamed up with Iron Man in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''.
26	** Bobbi watches the footage of JJ dancing on his date with Kate and remarks that it looks like the wedding from ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}''. Her actress Kristen Schaal had a voice role in ''WesternAnimation/ShrekForeverAfter''.
27	* ChekhovsGun: Literally in this case: JJ's box of weapons, which he fiercely demands that Bobbi doesn't touch, [[spoiler:ends up allowing Bobbi to intervene when he is captured by Marquez in the climax]].
28	* ChekhovsSkill: Sophie telegraphing her lies to JJ by blinking her eyes comes into play when [[spoiler:Marquez is ordering her to give him the plans. While JJ tells her not to, Sophie feigns cooperation and asks JJ to let him have it...blinking her eyes shortly after.]]
29	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: [[spoiler:When Kim initially dismisses JJ and Bobbi for diverging from their mission's objective, one of the clips he shows of JJ breaking protocol includes him dancing at his first date -- to which Bobbi gets excited about the fact that [[InstantWebHit it has over a million views]] before Kim's glare brings her back to reality]].
30	* CurseCutShort: [[spoiler:When JJ throws a cooked grenade at the gas truck, Kate starts to run; while we don't hear her, we can see her mouthing "What the f--" before the film cuts away.]]
31	* {{Cyberbullying}}: During one of her bus rides towards school, two girls sitting in front of Sophie's seat seize the opportunity to take pictures of Sophie's jelly-covered face and post it on "Insta" for giggles.
32	* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: JJ finishes off Marquez by pushing his plane off a cliff, which also sends Marquez falling due to him being caught on a fence, which was tied to the plane.]]
33	* DudeWheresMyRespect: JJ doesn't show Bobbi much respect for her contributions and doesn't seem to consider her a real agent.
34	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Watching footage of the falling-out between Victor and David Marquez, Bobbi shows concern for the owner of the car who got shoved out of their vehicle, awkwardly asks if they're okay, then confirms from the report that they were.
35	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Sophie's father was killed for refusing to sell nuclear arms.
36	* GreaterScopeVillain: Hassan, the Middle Eastern terrorist who Marquez planned on selling the nuclear bomb to.
37	* GroinAttack: Upon first seeing JJ with Sophie, Kate swiftly knees him in the crotch, which leaves him reeling for quite some time. When talking with her several days later, he remarks that his balls still hurt.
38	* HiddenDepths: Carlos states that his husband Todd (a classic example of TheQuietOne) is a therapist who is great at getting patients to open up to him. This revelation visibly surprises Kate. [[spoiler:Subverted with the reveal that Todd and Carlos are undercover mercenaries.]]
39	* ICantDance: When JJ ends up seeing Kate, a major roadblock to his chances of acting smoothly is that he has two left feet. In preparation for his first date, Sophie orders him not to embarrass himself, but of course he ends up on the dancefloor, and while his moves ''are'' stiff, they make him the life of the party.
40	* IHaveNoSon: A variation. [[spoiler: The villain is Sophie's uncle, who killed his brother (who was also Sophie's father). When Sophie asks why he is doing this, she calls him "Uncle Victor". The latter immediately demands she don't call him that, reasoning that he and her father "hated each other", and that he doesn't consider her family.]]
41	* InstantWebHit: When JJ shows off his..''unique'' dance moves at his first date with Kate, a bystander gets it on their phone, uploads it to [=YouTube=] ([[FreezeFrameBonus under the title]] "The Hulk Meets Meghan Markle"), and gets over a million views.
42	* LieDetector: As part of her spy training, JJ hooks Sophie up to one. When it lets her get away with a ridiculous lie unscathed ("I'm a KGB agent posing as a fourth-grader, my brother has three legs and sells crack and my mother is a prostitute"), mainly due to her keeping her composure, JJ immediately claims he didn't need the detector anyway.
43	* MacGuffin: David Marquez hid plans to build an atomic bomb, and his brother Victor wants to find and sell them to a terrorist.
44	* MadeOfExplodium: Averted with the fuel tanker at the airport. JJ throws a grenade at it to get the desired effect.
45	* MamaBear: Kate is very protective of her daughter. She gives JJ a swift GroinAttack when she thinks that he's kidnapped her and is quick to shield Sophie when [[spoiler: JJ admits his profession to her. When Sophie is kidnapped by the villain, she doesn't even hesitate to assist JJ in getting her back and even helps subdue Victor in the end]].
46	* MirrorMonologue: Sophie is introduced talking to herself in the mirror, trying to practice a way to make friends at school.
47	* TheMountainsOfIllinois: There are no giant cliffs in Naperville, Illinois...and no airport there, either.
48	* MrFanservice: InUniverse when JJ visits the school, and several women ogle him, one even giving him her phone number.
49	* OffWithHisHead: "Hassan's head of finance... ''Hassan's head...''"
50	* PassThePopcorn: While watching the video feed of the opening battle, Bobbi has some Doritos and compliments JJ's form.
51	* PreAsskickingOneLiner: After [[spoiler:Sophie gives Marquez the plans, [[ISurrenderSuckers seemingly doing his bidding]]]]:
52	-->'''Marquez''': Good girl. [[spoiler:But {{I lied}}. Guess that runs in the family.]]\
53	'''[[spoiler:Kate]]''': [[spoiler:Not on my side! (''whack'')]]
54	* PreMortemOneLiner: Discussed by Sophie and JJ, as she wants to learn the art of "what cool line you say before you take someone out". While JJ [[LampshadeHanging does tell her]] [[ThisIsReality that these lines are mainly movie fare]], he ''is'' well-equipped for certain scenarios.
55	-->'''Sophie''': What if the assassin was disguised as an ice-cream man?\
56	'''JJ''': I'd say "Chill out," and then I'd stab him with a freezer pop.\
57	'''Sophie''': A sidewalk Santa?\
58	'''JJ''': "Jingle all the way... to hell."\
59	'''Sophie''': A guy dressed up as a dog, selling watches?\
60	'''JJ''': "Time's up...[[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch bi]][[{{Pun}} tch]]."
61	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Kim. He criticizes JJ, but only for understandable mreasons, while also offering him another chance and trying to find him duties he's more suited for after he botches the opening mission.
62	* RefugeInAudacity: When JJ is suspected of being an undercover agent at the arms deal, he drops his cover and openly admits who he is, then proceeds to kill everybody else.
63	* RightBehindMe:
64	** JJ and Bobbi experience this when Sophie first enters their surveillance station right as they sympathize with Kate for having to deal with a bratty kid (referring to Sophie's angry reaction when a schedule change keeps Kate from taking her skating). Their OhCrap moment is twofold, as while it's awkward that Sophie heard them say that, her presence also means that their cover is blown.
65	---> '''Sophie:''' I don't think she's bratty.
66	** JJ attends a student art show at Sophie's school, and contrasts her painting with that of another student, describing how horrible it is. Turns out the student and her parents are standing behind him.
67	* ShoutOut:
68	** "[[Film/NottingHill I'm also just a man, standing in front of... another man.]]"
69	** When Sophie tells JJ about how she wants to learn how to say [[PreMortemOneLiner cool one-liners before taking down baddies]], JJ advises her not to base all her knowledge of spies from ''[[Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries Mission: Impossible]]''.
70	** The majority of JJ's dance knowledge seems to come from ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'' emotes.
71	** During the climax, [[spoiler:Bobbi attempts to use a machine gun. [[Film/TrueLies She drops it down the stairs and it fires all over the place]].]]
72	** [[spoiler:The final fight between JJ and Marquez takes place on an airfield, during which the two fighters come near close to being shredded by the plane's propeller. Bobbi thinks she's seen this all before, [[Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk only there were Nazis...]]]]
73	* SkewedPriorities: [[spoiler:After downing Marquez in the climax, Kate points out that the gas truck JJ parked is about to blow up and tells them to run. When it proves to be a dud, JJ and Sophie see an opportunity to fulfill Sophie's UnflinchingWalk fantasy, and JJ ''blows up the truck himself''. Kate is understandably bewildered.]]
74	* StockScream: The Wilhelm scream makes an appearance when Kim plays JJ footage of Hassan's head flying.
75	* StrongFamilyResemblance: Sophie and her mom resemble each other quite a bit.
76	* ThisIsReality: Sophie asks JJ when she gets to learn about [[UnflinchingWalk walking away from explosions]] and [[PreMortemOneLiner saying a cool line before killing someone]], to which JJ admonishes her for learning everything about being a spy from watching movies.
77	* UnflinchingWalk: Parodied. When Sophie voices her wishes to learn how to do this to JJ, he teaches her using fireworks -- although she doesn’t quite get the “unflinching” part down. In the climax, JJ and Sophie try to do this when a gas truck explodes, but it doesn't explode until JJ throws a cooked grenade at it. As they walk, Sophie turns back while JJ continues walking.
78	* VomitIndiscretionShot: When Bobbi accidentally throws a dagger into JJ's leg, it..er..takes her by surprise. Involuntary, chunky surprise.

Context Film / MySpy