Spies Like Us

For other uses, seeSpies Like Us (disambiguation).

Spies Like Us
Theatrical release poster byJohn Alvin
Directed by	John Landis
Screenplay by	Dan Aykroyd Lowell Ganz Babaloo Mandel
Story by	Dan Aykroyd Dave Thomas
Produced by	George Folsey Jr. Brian Grazer
Starring	Chevy Chase Dan Aykroyd Steve Forrest Donna Dixon Bruce Davison Bernie Casey William Prince Tom Hatten
Cinematography	Robert Paynter
Edited by	Malcolm Campbell
Music by	Elmer Bernstein
Production companies	Warner Bros. AAR Films
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	December 6, 1985(1985-12-06)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$22 million
Box office	$77.3 million

Spies Like Usis a 1985 Americanspycomedy filmdirected byJohn Landis,and starringChevy Chase,Dan Aykroyd,Steve Forrest,andDonna Dixon.The film presents the comic adventures of two novice intelligence agents sent to theSoviet Union.Originally written by Aykroyd andDave Thomasto star Aykroyd andJohn BelushiatUniversal,the script went intoturnaroundand was later picked up byWarner Bros.,starring Aykroyd and Chase.

Partly filmed on location nearSognefjordin Norway (as Russia) and the Sahara (as Pakistan),the film is ahomageto the famousBob HopeandBing CrosbyRoad to...film series. Hope himself cameos in one scene. Other cameos include directorsTerry Gilliam,Sam Raimi,Costa-Gavras,Martin Brest,Frank Oz,andJoel Coen,musicianB.B. Kingand visual effects pioneerRay Harryhausen.Although contemporary reviews of the film were largely negative,Spies Like Uswas a financial success, grossing $77 million.

Plot

Austin Millbarge is a code breaker dwelling in the dark basement atthe Pentagonwho aspires to escape his under-respected job to become a secret agent. Emmett Fitz-Hume, a wisecracking, pencil-pushing son of an envoy, takes the foreign service exam under peer pressure. Millbarge and Fitz-Hume meet during the test, on which Fitz-Hume openly cheats after his attempts to bribe his female supervisor and the test monitor in exchange for the answers both fail. Millbarge was not prepared to take the test, having had only one night to study after his supervisor deliberately withheld a two-weeks notice for the exam, leaving him vulnerable to fail and having to remain in the bowels of the Pentagon.

Needing two expendable covert agents to act as decoys to draw attention away from a more capable team, Ruby and Keyes of theDefense Intelligence Agency(DIA) decide to enlist Fitz-Hume and Millbarge, promote them to GLG-20 Foreign Service Operatives, rush them through minimal military survival training, and then send them on an undefined mission insidePakistanandSoviet Central Asia.Meanwhile, the two professional agents are well on their way to carry out the actual objective: the seizure of a mobile SS-50ICBMlauncher in Soviet territory. A member of the main team is killed, while Millbarge and Fitz-Hume manage to escape multiple enemy attacks and eventually encounter Karen Boyer, the surviving operative from the main team.

In thePamir Mountainsof theTajik Soviet Socialist Republic,the trio disguises themselves in hastily constructed extraterrestrial outfits and tranquilizes the mobile missile guard unit. Following orders in real-time from the intelligence agency (operating from the W.A.M.P. military bunker located deep under an abandoneddrive-in theaterin Nevada), they begin to operate the launcher. At the end of their instructions, the vehicle launches theICBMinto space, targeting an unspecified area in the Continental United States. Thinking they have started a nuclear war, the American agents and their Soviet counterparts pair up to have sex before the world is destroyed.

Meanwhile, Ruby and Keyes have joined Generals Sline and Miegs, the two military commanders at W.A.M.P., in the operations bunker. They initiate the conversion of the drive-in theater to expose what is hidden beneath the screens and projection booth: a hugeblack-opSDI-esque laser and collector/emitter screen. The purpose of sending the agents to launch a Soviet ICBM is exposed as a means to test thisanti-ballistic missilesystem, but the laser malfunctions and fails to intercept the missile. Despite this, Sline and Miegs choose not to inform the President and the US Government that the missile launch was not a nuclear attack initiated by the Soviet Union, revealing to the horrified Ruby and Keyes, a twisted contingency plan of letting the impending thermonuclear war commence to "preserve the American way of life".

Back in the Soviet Union, horrified at the thought of having launched a nuclear missile at their own country, Millbarge realizes that the missile can be diverted. The American spies and Soviet technicians quickly use Millbarge's knowledge ofmissile guidancesystems to transmit instructions that deflect the missile off into space where it harmlessly detonates. Immediately after, the underground W.A.M.P. bunker is located and stormed byU.S. Army Rangers,Ruby, Keyes and the rogue military officials involved in the unauthorized covert operation are all arrested. Millbarge, Fitz-Hume, and Boyer go on to becomenuclear disarmamentnegotiators, playing a nuclear version ofRisk-meets-Trivial Pursuitagainst their new Soviet friends.

Cast

• Chevy Chaseas Emmett Fitz-Hume
• Dan Aykroydas Austin Millbarge
• Donna Dixonas Karen Boyer
• Bruce Davisonas Ruby
• William Princeas Keyes
• Bernie Caseyas Colonel Rhombus
• Steve Forrestas General Sline
• Tom Hattenas General Miegs
• Frank Ozas Test Monitor
• Charles McKeownas Jerry Hadley
• Terry Gilliamas Dr. Imhaus
• James Daughtonas Rob Hodges
• Jim Staahl as Bud Schnelker
• Vanessa Angel,Svetlana Plotnikova, Bjarne Thomsen, Sergei Rousakov, and Garrick Dombrovski as Russian Rocket Crew
• Costa-Gavrasand Seva Novgorodtsev as Tadzhik Highway Patrol
• Stephen Hoye as Captain Hefling
• Ray Harryhausenas Dr. Marston

Other actors making appearances in minor roles includeJeff Hardingas Fitz-Hume's state department colleague andHeidi Sorensonas Alice, Fitz-Hume's supervisor. Also making cameo appearances are special effects designerDerek Meddingsas Dr. Stinson, directorsJoel Coen,Sam Raimi,andMartin Brestas the drive-in security, comedianBob Hopeas himself, musicianB.B. Kingand directorsMichael AptedandLarry Cohenas the Ace Tomato agents, and NBC newscasterEdwin Newmanas himself.

Title song

The title song, "Spies Like Us",was written and performed byPaul McCartney.The recording peaked at #7 on the singles chart in the United States in early 1986; The song was McCartney's last to reach the top ten in the US until 2015.It also reached #13 in the UK.John Landis directed a music video for the song where Aykroyd and Chase are seen in a recording studio, performing the song with McCartney (although they didn't actually play on the record).

Landis has stated that he feels "Spies Like Us" is a "a terrible song" but he couldn't say no to McCartney and Warner Bros.

Soundtrack

The film's score was composed byElmer Bernsteinand performed by theGraunke Symphony Orchestra,conducted by the composer. The soundtrack album was released byVarèse Sarabande;it does not contain thePaul McCartney song.The film also features "Soul Finger,"by theBar-Kays,also absent from the soundtrack. In an early scene, Fitz-Hume watchesRonald Reagan,Virginia MayoandGene Nelsonsing "I'll Still be Loving You" in the 1952 film musicalShe's Working Her Way Through College.

1. "The Ace Tomato Company" (5:06)
2. "Off to Spy" (1:52)
3. "Russians in the Desert" (2:21)
4. "Pass in the Tent" (2:58)
5. "Escape" (3:25)
6. "To the Bus" (3:14)
7. "The Road to Russia" (3:39)
8. "Rally 'Round" (2:39)
9. "W.A.M.P." (2:48)
10. "Martian Act" (3:08)
11. "Arrest" (2:21)
12. "Recall" (2:38)
13. "Winners" (1:16)

Release

Box office

Spies Like Usearned $8.6 million on its US opening weekend and ultimately grossed $60 million in the United States and Canadaagainst a budget of $22 million.The film grossed $17.2 million overseasfor a worldwide total of $77.3 million.

Critical reception

TheWashington PostcriticPaul AttanasiocalledSpies Like Us"a comedy with exactly one laugh, and those among you given to Easter egg hunts may feel free to try and find it."TheChicago ReadercriticDave Kehrcriticized the character development, saying that "Landis never bothers to account for the friendship that springs up spontaneously between these two antipathetic types, but then he never bothers to account for anything in this loose progression of recycledAbbott and Costelloriffs ".The New York TimescriticJanet Maslinwrote, "The stars are always affable, and they're worth watching even when they do very little, but it's painful to sit by as the screenplay runs out of steam."

Varietymagazine opined in a staff review, "Spiesis not very amusing. Though Chase and Aykroyd provide moments, the overall script thinly takes on eccentric espionage and nuclear madness, with nothing new to add. "TV Guidepublished a staff review, stating, "Landis' direction is indulgent, to say the least, with big landscapes, big crashes, big hardware, and big gags filling the screen. What he forgets is character development, that all-important factor that must exist for comedy to work well."David Parkinson, writing for theRadio Times,felt that "Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase simply fail to gel, and there's little fun to be had once the boisterous training school gags are exhausted."

Review aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoesshows a score of 35% based on 26 reviews and an average rating of 4.5/10. The site's consensus states: "Despite the comedic prowess of its director and two leads,Spies Like Usappears to disavow all knowledge of how to make the viewer laugh. "Metacriticdisplays a score of 22 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".Writing forCommon Sense Media,Andrea Beach called the film a "dated '80s comedy [with] strong language, few laughs."Colliderstaff writer Jeff Giles, reviewing the film'sBlu-ray Discrelease, stated, "on the whole, it’s more amusing than funny; it’s only 102 minutes, but it feels too long by half. For all the talent involved, there’s an awful lot of flab. It’s the kind of movie you can walk away from for 10 minutes without missing anything important."

Legacy

Animated sitcomFamily Guypaid tribute to the film with its 2009 episode "Spies Reminiscent of Us",which guest starred Aykroyd and Chase as fictionalized versions of themselves who, according to the series, were made real spies byRonald Reaganafter he saw the film. The episode recreates numerous scenes.

External links

• Spies Like UsatIMDb
• Spies Like UsatBox Office Mojo
• Spies Like UsatAllMovie