The Spy Next Door is a 2010 American spy comedy family film directed by Brian Levant, and starring Jackie Chan, Amber Valletta, Billy Ray Cyrus and George Lopez. Filming started in late October in New Mexico and was finished in late December 2008. The film was released on January 15, 2010 in the United States. The film was released on DVD, and Blu-ray on May 18, 2010. The film tributes Chan's films by showing clips, references and even referencing Chan's real life childhood.

Plot[link]

Bob Ho (Jackie Chan) is a Chinese super-spy on loan to the CIA who decides to retire so he can be with neighbor next-door and girlfriend, Gillian (Amber Valletta), who doesn't know his real job. Gillian's father is in the hospital and Bob says he can babysit her kids Farren (Madeline Carroll), Ian (Will Shadley), and Nora (Alina Foley), while Gillian visits him. Farren and Ian, while Bob is sleeping, sneak into Bob's house and Ian accidentally downloads a top-secret formula from his computer. Bob's archenemy, a Russian terrorist named Anton Poldark (Magnús Scheving), who developed a substance that dissolves petroleum, moves in and attacks Bob's house to find the formula, forcing Bob to juggle the roles of spy and prospective stepfather in the most challenging mission of his career, to protect Gillian's children. Bob asks Colton James (Billy Ray Cyrus), his spy partner in the neighbourhood, to help him, but he is not sure if he can trust Colton. Matters are further complicated when a Russian secret spy, Larry (Lucas Till) attacks Bob in search of Poldark and his men, forcing him to tell Ian, Nora, Farren, and Gillian that he is actually a spy. In addition, Bob discovers that his boss, Glaze (George Lopez), is actually working for Poldark and the Russians, and that Poldark plans to destroy the oil supply everywhere but Russia, so that he could become the world oil magnate and get the world domination. Bob manages to escape and flees to Gillian's home. Soon, Poldark arrives and engages Bob in a fight with his henchmen. At the end, the CIA come to arrest Poldark, Glaze, Larry, Creel and the rest of Poldark's team. Bob then marries Gillian. He then reveals that his name really isn't Bob, but Gillian doesn't seem to care.

Cast[link]

• Jackie Chan as Bob Ho
  The main protagonist of the film. He works as a spy. He is dating his neighbor, who he marries in the end. His real name is unknown.
• Amber Valletta as Gillian
  Bob's next door neighbor and girlfriend then wife. She does not know that Bob is a spy until later in the movie. She has three children, Farren (stepdaughter), Ian and Nora.
• Madeline Carroll as Farren
  The eldest among the children. She is the stepdaughter of Gillian and half-sister of Ian and Nora. She hates Bob at first but soon starts to befriend him. She feels like the freak of the family. She argues with Gillian about the clothes she wears. She is waiting for her dad to come back. She is thirteen years old.
• Will Shadley as Ian
  The middle child. He is a nerd and he lies. He fights with Farren but near the end of the film, they agree along with Nora for Bob to be their dad.
• Alina Foley as Nora
  The youngest. She likes Bob. She is into princess and pink stuff. She is four years old.
• Magnús Scheving as Anton Poldark
  A russian terrorist who plans to sabotage America's water reservoirs. He serves as the main antagonist of the film.
• Billy Ray Cyrus as Colton James
• George Lopez as Glaze
• Lucas Till as Larry
• Katherine Boecher as Tatiana Creel
• Maverick McWilliams as Chad
• Quinn Mason as Carl
• Margaret Murphy as Mom
• Esodie Geiger as Principal
• Jeff Chase as Russian Thug
• Tim Connolly as Russian Thug
• Valerie Adams as Neighborhood Mother (Uncredited)

Release[link]

Box office[link]

In its first weekend, in the US, The Spy Next Door made $9,726,056 in 2,924 theaters, opening at #6. It grossed $12,877,043 over the four-day period, ranking #5 on that term. It has grossed $42,402,765 to date already making it a minor commercial success.

Critical reception[link]

The film was generally panned by critics.^[2] It holds a "Rotten" 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 87 reviews with an average score of 3.5/10.^[3] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating of 0–100 top reviews from mainstream critics, it holds an average score of 27 based on 21 reviews.^[2] Most film critics targeted the film for "lacking a script"^[3] such as Michael Phillips of The Chicago Tribune for being "True Lies without the striptease or the Arab-maiming"^[4] and Kyle Smith of The New York Post who also claimed the film is "ripping off True Lies." ^[5]

Lael Loewenstein of Variety gave the film a negative review saying the film's "cartoonish jokes and misfired gags are likely to elicit more eye rolls than laughs."^[6] Daniel Eagan of The Hollywood Reporter also disliked the film saying most of the film is "pretty tired stuff from 'Pacifier'-style slapstick to comic relief delivered by, of all people" and that Chan "seems stiff" and "clad in unattractive clothes and forced into dumbed-down situations."^[7] David Stratton of At the Movies dismissed the film calling it "a sad viewing experience". He added "The woeful screenplay, the mundane direction, by Brian Levant, and the indifferent acting all combine to sink a stupid plot which should never have got off the ground."^[8] Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film 2½ stars.^[9] Rickey, giving the film the benefit of the doubt, wrote "The plot may be forgettable, but the execution is frantic and funny. The Spy Next Door is a movie that will bring smiles to kids – and their grandparents."^[9]

Home media[link]

The Spy Next Door was released on DVD and Blu-ray on May 18, 2010.

Awards and nominations[link]

See also[link]

• The Pacifier
• True Lies

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Spy Next Door at the Internet Movie Database
• The Spy Next Door at AllRovi
• The Spy Next Door at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Spy Next Door at Metacritic
• The Spy Next Door at Box Office Mojo