Helio The year after the film was released I saw the movie and was not impressed. Thirty-two years later it still comes across as stilted, poorly acted and poorly directed. On paper the script must have looked good but it doesn't translate well to the screen for which I blame the director for just letting the actors walk through their lines or in the case of Chevy Chase in the exam scene overdo it. There were a few good lines but Chevy Chase didn't deliver any of them that made me laugh. Ackroyd was acceptable as the straight man so although I'd like to blame CC for the failure to amuse I reckon Landis deserves the blame. Take the stilted scenes with Davison and other actors > there is very little to say for them. The script had potential - maybe if Belushi had been in the film rather than Chase, as intended, it would have worked better.

SnoopyStyle Ruby and Keyes have a covert operation to hijack a Soviet nuclear missile launcher. General Sline suggests sending two decoy agents along with the real agents on the mission. Emmett Fitzhume (Chevy Chase) is a womanizing schemer taking the foreign service board exam. Brilliant code-breaker Austin Millbarge (Dan Aykroyd) is working in the basement under a sleazy boss who doesn't tell him about the exam until the last minute. Millbarge joins Fitzhume in his rampant cheating. They are caught and to their surprise, they are brought into the advance program. They are generally incompetent in training and sent to Afganistan. They are picked up by two agents who turn out to be Soviets. They escape and find Dr. Hadley who mistakes them for fellow doctors. Dr. Boyer (Donna Dixon) is part of the medical team working with the Afghan resistance.It is completely stupid as a story. When Bob Hope walks into the tent in the middle of Afghanistan looking for his golf ball, the silly tone is irreversible. This relies on the strengths of Chase and Aykroyd. Chevy Chase acts like an ass and makes this funny. Aykroyd is a great neurotic sidekick without being annoying. They combine for a fun duo.

namashi_1 'Spies Like Us' is Hilarious! A witty & throughly enjoyable comedy, that has become a cult-classic over the years. And guess what, it deserves to be one! 'Spies like Us' Synopsis: Two bumbling government employees think they are U.S. spies, only to discover that they are actually decoys for Nuclear War.'Spies Like Us' gets it right. The humor, though offensive at times, is spot-on & memorable. Dan Aykroyd, Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel's Screenplay is very funny. John Landis's Direction is satisfactory. Cinematography & Editing are good.Performance-Wise: Chevy Chase & Dan Aykroyd are superb. The comic legends are a riot from start to end. Donna Dixon is decent. Steve Forrest is credible. Bruce Davison & William Prince are ordinary. Bob Hope appears in a cameo.On the whole, 'Spies Like Us' is a true comedy.

TxMike I had never seen this movie, which came out the same year as the landmark "Back to the Future", but found it now on a DVD from the library, along with the 3 Austin Powers movies.The story is told in a style which reminds me of movies like "Airplane" and "Austin Powers", a parody of spy and action movies made only for comic relief. While I enjoyed much of it, overall it comes across as very stale today.Chevy Chase is Emmett Fitz-Hume and Dan Aykroyd is Austin Millbarge. Both are government employees, and quite different personalities. They only meet when they are taking a test for a possible promotion, and each is chosen to work with the other in a two man spy team with an assignment in Russia.The ruse here is this, they are chosen to be the incompetent, decoy team to allow the real spy team to work undetected. And for the most part they are incompetent. However in the end they are the ones who save the day, and avoid all-out global nuclear war.SPOILERS: In the snowy wilderness of Russia they come upon a nuclear ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) carrying a nuclear warhead. They are fooled into believing they are to capture and disarm it, but in fact a rogue general back in the states wants to send it to the USA, in a misguided attempt to revive fervor in nuclear defense. As the missile is headed for New York, Millbarge manages to figure out a way to divert it, and all is saved. Plus he gets the pretty girl.