Lee Eisenberg
Having made a mess of the army in "M*A*S*H", Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould play with the world of espionage in "S*P*Y*S". The plot is a little confusing, but the tricks that they play make up for that. The best scenes are the car chase and the wedding. There's even a scene that seems a little prescient, as Gould's character mentions a NATO presence in Afghanistan.Overall, the bouncing around Paris gives the guys a lot to do, all of it very enjoyable. I think that the point of the movie is that Cold War-era espionage was such a joke that it might as well get this treatment in a movie. The movie got released in an era when a lot of movies focused on suspicion of the government ("The Parallax View", "Three Days of the Condor", etc). Clearly it can easily be the stuff of humor. Really funny.
gridoon2018
This very 1970's spy comedy was clearly marketed 90% on the strength of the star pairing of Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould, two of the coolest, hippest, "with-it" male leads of the decade (of the type who would only be used in supporting roles in our more conventional times). Unfortunately, they forgot to add a script to the mixture. The "plot" of "S*P*Y*S" is rambling and confusing at best. But that's not the worst thing about this film - the worst thing is how dismally unfunny it is. I mean, it is supposed to be a comedy, but you'd be hard-pressed to name more than 2 funny scenes within its 100 minutes. Only Remy Julienne's expertise with car stunts shines through. * out of 4.
TooSlim
It's been over 30 years since seeing this movie for the first time, and I can still feel the pain. This ranks right up there on my worst movie of all time list. And I am a Sutherland fan. I actually walked out of the theater the first time...and I was on a date! I recently gave it another try, thinking it couldn't possibly have been THAT bad. Nope. I was right the first time. Again, excruciating to watch. I know that they were probably trying to strike gold again by pairing Gould and Sutherland after they played so well together in MASH, but with a story as stupid as this even they can't pull it off. Do yourself a favor, and just re-watch MASH.
kokos-kitten
this movie is way underrated. i didn't have high expectations from the previous reviews I had read, my rental was based on the sheer fact I wanted to enjoy these two on screen again. however, I was pleasantly surprised and am still thinking about the dialog long after I watched. hilarious banter!!! and the music---if only i could find the song that plays during the credits(after Elliot and Donald are done singing). its awesome!!! My favorite scene is when the chase the dog and confront anyone who the dog runs up to. These guys don't play dumb, and neither does the conversation between them. Plus, there's not-so-bright french anarchists in the movie. now tell me this doesn't sound fantastic!!!!
AD
