The Spy Who Dumped Me

Last updated
The Spy Who Dumped Me
The Spy Who Dumped Me.png
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Susanna Fogel
Written by
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Barry Peterson
Edited byJonathan Schwartz
Music by Tyler Bates
Production
companies
Distributed byLionsgate
Release date
  • August 3, 2018 (2018-08-03)(United States)
Running time
117 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40 million [2]
Box office$75.3 million [2]

The Spy Who Dumped Me is a 2018 American action comedy film directed by Susanna Fogel and co-written by Fogel and David Iserson. The film stars Mila Kunis, Kate McKinnon, Justin Theroux, Sam Heughan, Hasan Minhaj, and Gillian Anderson and follows two best friends who are chased by assassins through Europe after one of their ex-boyfriends turns out to be a CIA agent. The title is a play on the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me . It was filmed in Amsterdam and Budapest from July to September 2017. The film was released in the United States on August 3, 2018, by Lionsgate and grossed more than $75 million, while receiving mixed reviews from critics, who questioned the film's intended genre and tone but praised the performances.

Contents

Plot

In Los Angeles, cashier Audrey Stockman spends her birthday upset after her boyfriend Drew dumps her. Her best friend and roommate, Morgan Freeman, convinces her to burn his things and texts him beforehand as a warning. Audrey has no idea Drew is a government agent being pursued by men trying to kill him. He promises to return and asks her to not torch anything in the meantime.

At work, Audrey flirts with a man who asks her to walk him to his car. Forced into a van, the man identifies himself as Sebastian Henshaw. He reveals that Drew works for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and has gone missing. Audrey claims not to have heard from him and is let go.

Drew shows up for his possessions, including a fantasy football trophy. People begin shooting at them and he tells Audrey that, if he dies, she must go to a certain café in Vienna and give the trophy to his contact. Drew is then shot by a man Morgan had taken home from a bar, whom she then pushes off the balcony.

Morgan convinces Audrey to go to Vienna. At the café, Sebastian appears and demands the trophy at gunpoint. Audrey reluctantly hands it over before the entire café is attacked. The friends flee, chased by men on motorcycles. Audrey reveals that she still has Drew's trophy as she had switched it with one of several decoys they purchased. Boarding a train to Prague, they discover the trophy contains a USB. Morgan calls her parents, who tell her they can stay in Prague with family friend Roger.

Audrey and Morgan get to the apartment, but discover "Roger" is actually a spy who drugged them and killed the real Roger. Morgan tries to swallow the flash drive. After that fails, Audrey tells their captors that she flushed it down the toilet.

The ladies wake up in an abandoned gymnastics training facility, about to be tortured by Nadejda, a Russian gymnast, model, and assassin trained by the older couple who had previously masqueraded as Drew's parents. Audrey and Morgan are rescued by Sebastian, who defied orders to save them. He brings them to his boss in Paris, where they once again tell the CIA and MI6 that the drive was flushed. The women are given tickets back to America, and Sebastian is suspended.

Driving back to the airport, Sebastian explains that Drew's "parents" are actually notorious criminals; Drew was discreetly negotiating with them to sell the USB, and Audrey was part of his cover. Audrey confesses that she hid the drive in her vagina. When Sebastian cannot decrypt the information, Morgan calls Edward Snowden for assistance, and he helps them hack it.

The trio travel to a hostel in Amsterdam, where they are attacked by Sebastian's CIA partner Duffer, who plans to sell the drive himself. They are rescued by their hostel roommate, who thinks they are being robbed and body slams Duffer to his death. Audrey answers Duffer's phone when it rings and agrees to sell the drive at a private party in Berlin.

To get into the party, Audrey and Sebastian go as the Canadian ambassador and his wife, while Morgan joins the Cirque du Soleil crew. Sebastian is attacked and Morgan is confronted by Nadejda on an acrobat swing, eventually kill her Meanwhile, Audrey meets her mysterious contact and finds Drew, who is still alive and searches through her purse for the USB. Sebastian arrives, held hostage by Drew's "parents".

After a standoff, Drew's "parents" are shot, leaving Sebastian and Drew, who accuse each other of trying to hurt Audrey. Drew then shoots Sebastian, and Audrey pretends to be glad before grabbing his gun. When he tries to attack her, she kicks him in the groin. Once he is on the ground, Morgan throws a cannonball at him. Drew is arrested, and Audrey, Morgan, and Sebastian escape.

Sebastian later gives Morgan his untraceable phone to let her parents know she is alive. As she's talking, Sebastian's boss calls to lift his suspension. Morgan begs her for a job as a spy. Meanwhile, Sebastian and Audrey kiss.

A year later, while celebrating Audrey's birthday in Tokyo, her party is revealed to be a ruse, as it's actually an assignment with Sebastian to stop a group of Japanese Yakuza gangsters.

Cast

Production

Principal photography began in Budapest, Hungary in July 2017. [3] Filming also took place in Amsterdam that September, wrapping the same month. [4]

Release

The Spy Who Dumped Me premiered at Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles on July 25, 2018. [5] The film was originally scheduled to be released on July 6, 2018, but after "a phenomenal test screening" it was pushed back a month to August 3, 2018, in order to avoid a crowded July frame. [6] [7]

Home media

The Spy Who Dumped Me was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 30, 2018, by Lionsgate Home Entertainment. [8]

Reception

Box office

The Spy Who Dumped Me grossed $33.6 million in the United States and Canada, as well as $41.7 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $75.3 million, against a production budget of $40 million. [2]

In the United States and Canada, The Spy Who Dumped Me was released alongside Christopher Robin , The Darkest Minds and Death of a Nation: Can We Save America a Second Time? , and was projected to gross $10–15 million from 3,111 theaters in its opening weekend. [9] The film made $5 million on its first day, including $950,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $12.4 million, finishing third at the box office, behind holdover Mission: Impossible – Fallout and Christopher Robin. [10] It fell 45% to $6.6 million in its second weekend, finishing sixth. [11]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 49% of 208 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10.The website's consensus reads: "The Spy Who Dumped Me isn't the funniest or most inventive spy comedy, but Kate McKinnon remains as compulsively watchable as ever." [12] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 52 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [13] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it 3 out of 5 stars. [10]

Variety 's Owen Gleiberman praised McKinnon's performance but criticized the film for favoring violence over comedy, writing, "The Spy Who Dumped Me is no debacle, but it's an over-the-top and weirdly combustible entertainment, a movie that can't seem to decide whether it wants to be a light comedy caper or a top-heavy exercise in B-movie mega-violence." [14] Barbara VanDenburgh of The Arizona Republic called the film "a tonally incongruous, plodding and graphically violent comedy" and gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, noting: "Perhaps the problem isn't one of too little ambition, but of too much. The Spy Who Dumped Me is, after all, trying earnestly to be about half a dozen different things: a buddy comedy, a spy drama, a raunch fest, a thrilling action film. It's just that it doesn't have the focus to do any of those things particularly well". [15] Rolling Stone 's Peter Travers criticized the film, similarly rating it 2 out of 5 stars. He stated that the film "spends way too much time on car chases, shootouts, knife fights and R-rated violence that doesn't square with the film's comic agenda" and also commented that "The Spy Who Dumped Me isn't just painfully unfunny—it criminally wastes the comic talents of Kate McKinnon". [16]

Richard Brody of The New Yorker praised the film, stating, "Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon riff gleefully in the ample and precise framework of Susanna Fogel's effervescent action comedy", [17] while Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times also gave it a positive review, writing, "The Spy Who Dumped Me [is] a fast, funny Europe-trotting buddy caper". [18] Johnny Oleksinski of the New York Post opined it was nice to see McKinnon used properly in a film, and that Kunis was the ideal straight woman, calling the two a smart match. [19]

Accolades

AwardsDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
People's Choice Awards November 11, 2018Favorite Comedy MovieThe Spy Who Dumped MeWon [20] [21]
Favorite Comedic Movie Actress Mila Kunis Nominated

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macaulay Culkin</span> American actor and musician (born 1980)

Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin is an American actor and musician. Considered one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, Culkin has received a Golden Globe Award nomination and other accolades. In 2005, he was ranked second on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid-Stars". In 2023, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashton Kutcher</span> American actor (born 1978)

Christopher Ashton Kutcher is an American actor, producer and entrepreneur. Kutcher began his acting career portraying Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show (1998–2006). He made his film debut in the romantic comedy Coming Soon (1999), followed by the comedy film Dude, Where's My Car? (2000), which was a box office success. In 2003, Kutcher starred in the romantic comedies Just Married and My Boss's Daughter. That year, he created and produced the television series Punk'd, also serving as host for the first eight of its ten seasons. Kutcher starred in the science fiction film The Butterfly Effect (2004) and had a voice role in Open Season (2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mila Kunis</span> American actress (born 1983)

Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis is an American actress. Born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, and raised in Los Angeles, she began playing Jackie Burkhart on the Fox television series That '70s Show (1998–2006) at age 15. She has voiced Meg Griffin on the Fox animated series Family Guy since 1999.

<i>American Psycho 2</i> 2002 American black comedy slasher film by Morgan J. Freeman

American Psycho 2 is a 2002 American slasher film directed by Morgan J. Freeman from a screenplay by Alex Sanger and Karen Craig. Starring Mila Kunis and William Shatner, it is a stand-alone sequel to the film American Psycho. Kunis portrays a criminology student who seeks to advance her career by murdering her classmates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa McCarthy</span> American actress (born 1970)

Melissa Ann McCarthy is an American actress, screenwriter, and producer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. McCarthy was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016, and she has been featured multiple times in annual rankings of the highest-paid actresses in the world. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her #22 in its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Feig</span> American filmmaker

Paul Feig is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. He is best known for directing films such as Bridesmaids (2011), The Heat (2013), Spy (2015), Ghostbusters (2016), A Simple Favor (2018), and Last Christmas (2019). He often collaborates with actress Melissa McCarthy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate McKinnon</span> American actress and comedian (born 1984)

Kate McKinnon Berthold is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2012 to 2022, where she became known for her character work and celebrity impressions. For her work on the series, she was nominated for ten Primetime Emmy Awards, including one for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics and nine for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, winning in 2016 and 2017.

<i>Friends with Benefits</i> (film) 2011 film by Will Gluck

Friends with Benefits is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Will Gluck and starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. The film features Patricia Clarkson, Jenna Elfman, Bryan Greenberg, Nolan Gould, Richard Jenkins, and Woody Harrelson in supporting roles. The plot revolves around Dylan Harper (Timberlake) and Jamie Rellis (Kunis), who meet in New York City, and naively believe adding sex to their friendship will not lead to complications. Over time, they begin to develop deep feelings for each other, only to deny it each time they are together.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernst-Marcus Thomas</span> German television host (born 1973)

Ernst-Marcus Thomas is a German actor, TV host, radio DJ and writer. From 2011 until 2021, he hosted The Afternoon Show on WDR 4 in Germany. For the past 20 years, Thomas has been a host for many live programs in Germany and Switzerland, including the national entertainment show, ZDF Fernsehgarten, and the daily cooking show, ARD Buffet, which aired on Germany's national TV channel, ARD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Stourton</span> British actor (born 1987)

Thomas Edward Alexander Stourton is an English actor, comedian and writer.

<i>Jupiter Ascending</i> 2015 film by The Wachowskis

Jupiter Ascending is a 2015 space opera film written, directed and co-produced by the Wachowskis. Starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis with Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne and Douglas Booth in supporting roles, the film is centered on Jupiter Jones (Kunis), an ordinary cleaning woman, and Caine Wise (Tatum), an interplanetary warrior who informs Jones that her destiny extends beyond Earth. Supporting cast member Douglas Booth has described the film's fictional universe as a cross between The Matrix and Star Wars, while Kunis identified indulgence and consumerism as its underlying themes.

<i>Sisters</i> (2015 film) 2015 comedy film directed by Jason Moore

Sisters is a 2015 American comedy film directed by Jason Moore, written by Paula Pell and is the second collaboration between Tina Fey and Amy Poehler following the film Baby Mama (2008). The rest of the cast consists of Maya Rudolph, Ike Barinholtz, James Brolin, John Cena, John Leguizamo, Bobby Moynihan, and Dianne Wiest.

<i>Fifty Shades Freed</i> (film) 2018 film directed by James Foley

Fifty Shades Freed is a 2018 American erotic romantic drama film directed by James Foley and written by Niall Leonard, based on E. L. James's 2012 novel of the same name. Produced by Perfect World Pictures, Michael De Luca Productions, and Trigger Street Productions, and distributed by Universal Pictures, it is the third and final installment in the Fifty Shades film series, following Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) and Fifty Shades Darker (2017). The film stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan as Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey, respectively, and follows the couple as they marry, and must deal with Ana's former boss Jack Hyde, who begins to stalk them.

<i>Bad Moms</i> 2016 film by Jon Lucas, Scott Moore

Bad Moms is a 2016 American comedy film directed and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. The film stars an ensemble cast that includes Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Jay Hernandez, Annie Mumolo, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Christina Applegate.

<i>Rampage</i> (2018 film) 2018 film by Brad Peyton

Rampage is a 2018 American science fiction monster film directed by Brad Peyton and loosely based on the video game series of the same name by Midway Games, from a screenplay by Ryan Engle, Carlton Cuse, Ryan J. Condal and Adam Sztykiel. The film stars Dwayne Johnson in the lead role, Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, Jake Lacy, Joe Manganiello and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. It follows a primatologist who must team up with George, a leucistic western lowland gorilla who turns into a raging creature of enormous size and growing into bigger and larger sizes as a result of a rogue experiment, to stop two other mutated animals from destroying Chicago.

<i>Atomic Blonde</i> 2017 film by David Leitch

Atomic Blonde is a 2017 American action thriller film directed by David Leitch from a screenplay by Kurt Johnstad, based on the 2012 graphic novel The Coldest City by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart. The film stars Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Eddie Marsan, Sofia Boutella, and Toby Jones. The story revolves around a spy who has to find a list of double agents that is being smuggled into the West on the eve of the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

<i>Midnight Sun</i> (2018 film) 2018 American romantic drama film by Scott Speer

Midnight Sun is a 2018 American romantic drama film based on the 2006 Japanese film A Song to the Sun. The film was directed by Scott Speer and written by Eric Kirsten, and stars Bella Thorne, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Rob Riggle.

<i>Wonder Park</i> 2019 animated film

Wonder Park is a 2019 animated adventure comedy film produced by Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies, with Ilion Animation Studios handling animation. The plot follows a young girl who encounters a real version of her magical amusement park run by anthropomorphic animals. The film stars the voice talents of Jennifer Garner, Matthew Broderick, John Oliver, Mila Kunis, Kenan Thompson, Ken Jeong, Norbert Leo Butz, Brianna Denski, and Ken Hudson Campbell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susanna Fogel</span> American director, screenwriter and author

Susanna Fogel is an American director, screenwriter and author, best known for co-writing the 2019 film Booksmart and for co-writing and directing the 2018 action/comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me. Her many accolades include a DGA Award and nominations at the BAFTA Film Awards, the Primetime Emmy Awards and the WGA Awards.

<i>Overboard</i> (2018 film) 2018 film by Rob Greenberg

Overboard is a 2018 American romantic comedy film directed by Rob Greenberg, who wrote the screenplay with Bob Fisher and Leslie Dixon. A characteristically-reversed remake of the original 1987 film, the film stars Eugenio Derbez, Anna Faris, Cecilia Suárez, Eva Longoria, and John Hannah. It follows a struggling, working-class single mother who convinces a rich playboy with amnesia that they are married.

References

  1. ↑ "The Spy Who Dumped Me". AMC Theatres . Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Spy Who Dumped Me". Box Office Mojo . IMDb . Retrieved November 14, 2018.
  3. ↑ Shanahan, Mark (July 17, 2017). "New Novel and Big Movie Keep Susanna Fogel Busy" . The Boston Globe . Boston Globe Media Partners. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  4. ↑ Daniels, Nia (June 2, 2017). "Multiple European locations for The Spy Who Dumped Me". KFTV . Media Business Insight. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  5. ↑ McNary, Dave (July 26, 2018). "Kate McKinnon, Mila Kunis Consider Being Secret Agents at 'Spy Who Dumped Me' Premiere". Variety . Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  6. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (April 28, 2017). "Lionsgate Dates Mila Kunis-Kate McKinnon Comedy 'The Spy Who Dumped Me' for Summer 2018 Release". Deadline Hollywood . Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on November 29, 2021. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  7. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 22, 2017). "'The Spy Who Dumped Me' Heads To August, 'Madea Family Funeral' To Be Held In Fall". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on March 7, 2022. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  8. ↑ Bradley, Dan (September 10, 2018). "'The Spy Who Dumped Me' 4K, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Release Dates and Details". The HDRoom. Archived from the original on June 21, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  9. ↑ Rubin, Rebecca (August 1, 2018). "Box Office: Can Disney's 'Christopher Robin' Top 'Mission: Impossible – Fallout'?". Variety. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  10. 1 2 D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 5, 2018). "'Mission' Notches Best 2nd Weekend For Franchise With $35M; 'Christopher Robin' No Eeyore With $25M – Sunday Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  11. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 12, 2018). "August Audiences Get Hooked On 'Meg' Shelling Out $44.5M". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on March 30, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  12. ↑ "The Spy Who Dumped Me". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved December 16, 2022. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  13. ↑ "The Spy Who Dumped Me". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  14. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (July 26, 2018). "Film Review: 'The Spy Who Dumped Me'". Variety. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  15. ↑ VanDenburgh, Barbara (July 27, 2018). "'The Spy Who Dumped Me' review: Graphic violence, comedy don't mix". The Arizona Republic . Gannett . Retrieved July 28, 2018.Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg
  16. ↑ Travers, Peter (July 30, 2018). "'The Spy Who Dumped Me' Review: D.O.A. Comedy Does Kate McKinnon No Favors" . Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2018.Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg
  17. ↑ Brody, Richard (August 3, 2018). "The Spy Who Dumped Me". The New Yorker . Condé Nast. Archived from the original on December 24, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  18. ↑ Chang, Justin (August 3, 2018). "The Spy Who Dumped Me" . Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on March 22, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  19. ↑ Oleksinski, Johnny (August 1, 2018). "'The Spy Who Dumped Me' is a secret-agent spoof that doesn't suck". New York Post . News Corp. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  20. ↑ "People's Choice Awards 2018: The nominees". USA Today . Gannett. September 24, 2018. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
  21. ↑ Ramos, Dino-Day (November 11, 2018). "People's Choice Awards: 'Avengers: Infinity War', 'Shadowhunters' Among Top Honorees – Full Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Archived from the original on March 27, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.