Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
Two bumbling government employees think they are U.S. spies, only to discover that they are actually decoys for nuclear war.
Spies Like Us is a genial mid-80s Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd vehicle that coasts largely on the chemistry and comedic personas of its two leads. The plot is a fairly thin Cold War farce — bumbling decoys mistaken for real agents — that never develops beyond its gimmick premise and loses steam in the second half. Chase and Aykroyd are charming enough to carry the lightweight material, though neither is particularly stretched. Visually it's a standard studio comedy of the era with nothing cinematically distinctive. The film has a certain nostalgic charm and the buddy-comedy dynamic gives it some personality, but it's ultimately a formulaic genre piece elevated modestly by star power. The ending wraps up too conveniently and the nuclear stakes feel utterly unearned comedically.